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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 


SAN  DIEGO 


THE    LOEB    CLASSICAL    LIBRARY 

EDITED  BY 
E.CAPPS,  PH.D.,  LL.D.  T.  E.  PAGE,  LiTT.D.   W.  H.  D.  ROUSE,  Lrrr.U. 


MARTIAL 

EPIGRAMS 
II 


MARTIAL 

EPIGRAMS 

WITH   AN    ENGLISH   TRANSLATION   BY 
WALTER   C.  A.  KER,  M.A. 

SOMETIME   SCHOLAR  OF  TRINITY   COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE 
OF  THE    INNER  TEMI'LK,    BARR1STER-AT-LAW 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 
II 


LONDON  :  WILLIAM    HEINEMANN 
NEW    YORK    :    G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

MCMXX 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

BOOK   VIII        I 

BOOK    IX 67 

BOOK   X        151 

BOOK  xi 235 

BOOK    XII 315 

BOOK  xin 389 

BOOK  xiv 439 

EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED   TO   MARTIAL 519 

INDEX    OF   PROPER   NAMES 535 

INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES .     .           .  545 


THE 
EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 


VOL.  II. 


M.    VALERI    MARTIALIS 
EPIGRAMMATON 

LIBER    OCTAVUS 

IMPERATORI  DOMITIANO  CAESARI  AUGUSTO  GERMANICO 
DACICO  VALERIUS  MARTIALIS  S. 

OMNES  quidem  libelli  mei,  domine,  quibus  tu  famam, 
id  est  vitam,  dedisti,  tibi  supplicant;  et,  puto  propter 
hoc  legentur.  hie  tamen,  qui  operis  nostri  octavus  in- 
scribitur,  occasione  pietatis  frequentius  fruitur ;  minus 
itaque  ingenio  laborandum  fuit,  in  cuius  locum  mate- 
ria  successerat:  quam  quidem  subinde  aliqua  iocorum 
mixtura  variare  temptavimus,  ne  caelesti  verecundiae 
tuae  laudes  suas,  quae  facilius  te  fatigare  possint 
quam  nos  satiare,  omnis  versus  ingereret.  quamvis 
autem  epigrammata  a  severissimis  quoque  et  summae 
fortunae  viris  ita  scripta  sint  ut  mimicam  verborum 
licentiam  adfectasse  videantur,  ego  tamen  illis  non 
permisi  tam  lascive  loqui  quam  solent.  cum  pars 
libri  et  maior  et  melior  ad  maiestatem  sacri  nominis 
tui  alligata  sit,  meminerit  non  nisi  religiosa  purifica- 
tione  lustratos  accedere  ad  templa  debere.  quod 

1  This  book  appears  by  internal  evidence  to  have  been 
published  towards  the  end  of  A.D.  93.  The  epigrams  are 
not,  however,  in  chronological  order. 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 
BOOK   VIII 

To   THE    EMPEROR    DOMITIANUS,   CAESAR,    AUGUSTUS, 

CONQUEROR  OF  GERMANY    AND    DACIA,  VALERIUS 

MARTIALIS  SENDS  GREETING1 

OF  a  truth  all  my  little  books,  Sire,  to  which  you 
have  given  fame,  that  is,  life,  are  your  suppliants, 
and  I  think  will,  for  this  reason,  be  read.  This  one, 
however,  which  is  marked  the  eighth  of  my  works, 
enjoys  more  frequently  the  opportunity  of  showing 
loyalty.  Accordingly  I  had  less  occasion  for  the 
labour  of  invention,  for  which  the  subject-matter 
formed  a  substitute ;  that,  however,  I  have  here  and 
there  attempted  to  diversify  by  some  intermixture 
of  pleasantry,  so  that  every  verse  should  not  heap 
upon  your  divine  modesty  its  meed  of  praise  which 
would  more  easily  weary  you  than  satiate  me.  And 
although  epigrams  have  been  written  in  such  a  style, 
even  by  men  the  most  austere  and  of  the  highest 
position,  as  apparently  to  have  aimed  at  the  verbal 
licence  of  mimes,  yet  I  have  not  allowed  these  to 
speak  with  their  usual  playfulness.  As  part  of  my 
book — and  that  the  greater  and  better — is  attached 
to  the  Majesty  of  your  sacred  name,  it  should  re- 
member that  it  is  unfitting  to  approach  the  temple 
save  cleansed  by  religious  purification.2  That  readers 

2  An  allusion  to  the  Emperor's  assumption  of  deity  :  cf. 
viii.  ii.  G. 

3 
B  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

ut  custoditurura  me  lecturi  sciant,  in  ipso  libelli 
huius  limine  profited  brevissimo  placuit  epigram- 
mate. 


LAURIGEROS  domini,  liber,  intrature  penates 

disce  verecundo  sanctius  ore  loqui. 
nuda  recede  Venus ;  non  est  tuus  iste  libellus  : 

tu  mini,  tu  Pallas  Caesariana,  veni. 

II 

FASTORUM  genitor  parensque  lanus 

victorem  modo  cum  videret  Histri, 

tot  vultus  sibi  non  satis  putavit 

optavitque  oculos  habere  plures, 

et  lingua  pariter  locutus  omni  5 

terrarum  domino  deoque  rerum 

promisit  Pyliam  quater  senectam. 

addas,  lane  pater,  tuam  rogamus. 

Ill 

"  QUINQUE  satis  fuerant :  nam  sex  septemve  libelli 
est  nimium  :  quid  adhuc  ludere,  Musa,  iuvat  ? 

sit  pudor  et  finis :  iam  plus  nihil  addere  nobis 
fama  potest :  teritur  noster  ubique  liber  ; 

et  cum  rupta  situ  Messallae  saxa  iacebunt  5 

altaque  cum  Licini  marmora  pulvis  erunt, 

1  Because  of  the  Emperor's  recent  victories  on  the  Danube. 

2  The  god  Janus  presided  over  the  year  and  the  public 
records.     He  was  represented  with  two  faces  turned  in  op- 
posite ways,  i.e.  towards  the  past  and  the  future  ;  or  with 
four  to  represent  the  four  seasons. 


BOOK   VIII.  i-m 

may  know  I  shall  regard  this  obligation,  I  have  deter- 
mined to  make  my  profession  on  the  very  threshold 
of  this  little  book  by  a  very  brief  epigram. 

I 

THOU,  my  book,  who  art  purposed  to  enter  my 
Master's  laurel-wreathed1  abode,  learn  to  speak  more 
reverently  in  modest  speech.  Undraped  Venus,  stand 
back :  this  little  book  is  not  thine ;  do  thou  come 
to  me,  thou,  Pallas,  patron  of  Caesar. 

II 

WHEN  Janus,  begetter  and  parent  of  our  annals,2 
of  late  saw  Hister's  conqueror,  he  deemed  his  many 
faces  were  not  enough  for  him,  and  wished  to  possess 
more  eyes ;  and,  speaking  alike  with  every  tongue, 
he  promised  the  Lord  of  Earth  and  God  of  the 
Universe  a  Pylian  old  age  3  four  times  over.  Add, 
Father  Janus,  we  entreat,  your  own. 

Ill 

"  FIVE  were  sufficient ;  for  six  or  seven  books  are 
too  much  :  why  do  you  want,  Muse,  to  frolic  still  ? 
Let  there  be  some  stint  and  an  end  :  now  nothing 
more  can  Fame  give  me  ;  my  book  is  thumbed  every- 
where ;  and  when  Messalla's4  pavements  shall  lie 
shivered  by  decay,  and  Licinus' 6  towering  marble 

J  Nestor's. 

4  M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus,  the  patron  of  Tibullus  : 
cf.  X.  ii.  9.     He  repaired  the  Via  Latina  :  cf.  Tib.  I.  vii.  57. 
Or  "  saxa  "  may  perhaps  refer  to  his  tomb. 

5  A  rich  freedman  of  Augustus  (cf.  Juv.  i.  109),  who  had 
a  magnificent  tomb. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

me  tamen  ora  legent  et  secum  plurimus  hospes 

ad  patrias  sedes  carmina  nostra  feret." 
finieram,  cum  sic  respondit  nona  sororum, 

cui  coma  et  unguento  sordida  vestis  erat :  10 

"  Tune  potes  dulcis,  ingrate,  relinquere  nugas  ? 

die  mihi,  quid  melius  desidiosus  ages  ? 
an  iuvat  ad  tragicos  soccum  transferre  coturnos 

aspera  vel  paribus  bella  tonare  modis, 
praelegat  ut  tumidus  rauca  te  voce  magister,  15 

oderit  et  grandis  virgo  bonusque  puer  ? 
scribant  ista  graves  nimium  nimiumque  severi, 

quos  media  miseros  nocte  lucerna  videt. 
at  tu  Romanes  lepido  sale  tingue  libellos : 

adgnoscat  mores  vita  legatque  suos.  20 

angusta  cantare  licet  videaris  avena, 

dum  tua  multorum  vincat  avena  tubas." 


IV 

QUANTUS,  io,  Latias  mundi  conventus  ad  aras 

suscipit  et  solvit  pro  duce  vota  suo  ! 
non  sunt  haec  hominum,  Germanice,  gaudia  tantum, 

sed  faciunt  ipsi  nunc,  puto,  sacra  dei. 


DUM  donas,  Macer,  anulos  puellis, 
desisti,  Macer,  anulos  habere. 

J  Thalia,  the  Muse  of  epigram.  *  Hexameters. 

3  For  Jan.  3,  the  day  when  vows  were  publicly  offered  for 
the  Emperor  (votorum  nuncupatio  :  cf.  Suet.  Ner.  xlvi.). 
6 


BOOK    VIII.  HI-V 

shall  be  dust,  yet  me  shall  lips  read,  and  many 
a  sojourner  shall  carry  my  poems  with  him  to  his 
fatherland."  I  ended;  when  thus  replied  the  ninth 
of  the  Sisters,1  her  hair  and  vesture  stained  with 
unguent :  "  Can  you,  ungrateful  man,  resign  your 
pleasant  trifles?  Tell  me,  what  better  thing  when 
idle  will  you  do  ?  Wish  you  to  adapt  your  comic  shoe 
to  the  tragic  buskin,  or  in  even-footed  measures2  to 
thunder  of  rough  wars,  that  a  pompous  pedagogue 
may  dictate  you  in  hoarse  tones,  and  tall  girl  and 
honest  boy  hate  you  ?  Let  those  themes  be  written 
by  men  grave  overmuch,  and  overmuch  austere,  whom 
at  midnight  their  lamp  marks  at  their  wretched  toil. 
But  do  you  dip  your  little  Roman  books  in  sprightly 
wit ;  let  Life  recognize  and  read  of  her  own  man- 
ners. To  a  thin  pipe  you  may  appear  to  sing,  if  only 
your  pipe  outblow  the  trump  of  many." 


IV 

Ho  !  How  great  a  concourse  of  the  world  at  Latin 
altars  makes  and  pays  their  vows3  for  their  Chief! 
These  are  not  the  joys  of  men  only,  Germanicus : 
nay,  the  very  gods  now,  I  ween,  offer  sacrifice. 


WHILE  you  give  rings  to  girls,  Macer,  you  have 
ceased,  Macer,  to  possess  rings  yourself.4 

4  i.e.  you  have  lost  your  qualification  as  a  knight:  cf. 
Juv.  xi.  43.  The  ius  anulorum  (right  to  wear  a  gold  ring) 
was  possessed  by  senators,  knights,  and  magistrates. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

VI 

ARCHETYPIS  vetuli  nihil  est  odiosius  Aucti 

(ficta  Saguntino  cymbia  malo  luto), 
argenti  furiosa  sui  cum  stemmata  narrat 

garrulus  et  verbis  mucida  vina  facit : 
"  Laomedonteae  fuerant  haec  pocula  mensae  :  5 

ferret  ut  haec,  muros  struxit  Apollo  lyra. 
hoc  cratere  ferox  commisit  pi-oelia  Rhoetus 

cum  Lapithis  :  pugna  debile  cernis  opus, 
hi  duo  longaevo  censentur  Nestore  fundi : 

pollice  de  Pylio  trita  columba  nitet.  10 

hie  scyphus  est  in  quo  misceri  iussit  amicis 

largius  Aeacides  vividiusque  merum. 
hac  propinavit  Bitiae  pulcherrima  Dido 

in  patera,  Phrygio  cum  data  cena  viro  est." 
miratus  fueris  cum  prisca  toreumata  multum,  15 

in  Priami  calathis  Astyanacta  bibes. 

VII 

Hoc  agere  est  causas,  hoc  dicere,  Cinna,  diserte, 
horis,  Cinna,  decem  dicere  verba  novem  ? 

sed  modo  clepsydras  ingenti  voce  petisti 
quattuor.     o  quantum,  Cinna,  tacere  potes  ! 

VIII 

PRINCIPIUM  des,  lane,  licet  velocibus  annis 
et  renoves  voltu  saecula  longa  tuo, 

1  In  the  battle  between  the  Lapithae  and  the  Centaurs. 
'  Achilles  :  cf.  Horn.  II.  ix.  203. 

8 


BOOK    VIII.  vi-vm 

VI 

THAN  old  Auctus'  antiques  nothing  is  more  odious — I 
prefer  drinking  vessels  moulded  from  Saguntine  clay 
— when  he  prates  of  the  crazy  pedigrees  of  his  silver 
plate,  and  by  his  chattering  makes  the  wine  vapid. 
"  These  are  cups  that  once  belonged  to  Laomedon's 
table :  to  win  these  Apollo  by  his  harp-playing  built  the 
walls  of  Troy.  With  this  mixing-bowl  fierce  Rhoetus 
joined  battle  with  the  Lapithae  : '  you  see  the  work- 
manship is  dinted  by  the  fight.  These  two  goblets 
are  valuable  because  of  aged  Nestor :  the  dove  is 
burnished  by  the  nibbing  of  the  Pylian  thumb.  This 
is  the  tankard  in  which  the  grandson  of  Aeacus2 
ordered  a  fuller  draught  and  stronger  wine  be  mixed 
for  his  friends.  In  this  bowl  most  beautiful  Dido 
pledged  Bitias  when  her  banquet  was  given  to  the 
Phrygian  hero." ;  When  you  have  much  admired 
these  ancient  chasings,  in  Priam's  cups  you  will 
drink  Astyanax.4 

VII 

Is  this  your  pleading  of  causes,  is  this  eloquence, 
Cinna,  in  ten  hours,  Cinna,  to  say  nine  words  ?  And 
just  now  in  loud  tones  you  asked  for  four  water- 
clocks  ! 5  Oh,  what  store  of  silence,  Cinna,  you 
possess  ! 

VIII 

ALBEIT  thou,  Janus,  givest  their  beginning  to  the 
flying  years,  and  dost  with  thy  visage  renew  the 

3  Aeneas  :   cf.  Verg.  Aen.  i.  738. 

4  i.e.  something  very  young  and  immature.    Astyanax  was 
the  grandson  of  Priam.  5  cf.  vi.  xxxv.  1. 

9 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

te  primum  pia  tura  rogent,  te  vota  salutent, 
purpura  te  felix,  te  colat  omnis  honos : 

tu  tamen  hoc  mavis,  Latiae  quod  contigit  urbi 
mense  tuo  reducem,  lane,  videre  deum. 

IX 

SOLVERE  dodrantem  nuper  tibi,  Quinte,  volebat 
lippus  Hylas,  luscus  vult  dare  dimidium. 

accipe  quam  primum  ;  brevis  est  occasio  lucri : 
si  fuerit  caecus,  nil  tibi  solvet  Hylas. 

X 

EMIT  lacernas  milibus  decem  Bassus 

Tyrias  coloris  optimi.     lucrifecit. 

"  Adeo  bene  emit  ?  "  inquis.     immo  non  solvet, 

XI 

PERVENISSE  tuam  iam  te  scit  Rhenus  in  urbem  ; 

nam  populi  voces  audit  et  ille  tui : 
Sarmaticas  etiam  gentes  Histrumque  Getasque 

laetitiae  clamor  terruit  ipse  novae, 
dum  te  longa  sacro  venerantur  gaudia  Circo, 

nemo  quater  missos  currere  sen  sit  equos. 
null  urn  Roma  ducem,  nee  te  sic,  Caesar,  amavit : 

te  quoque  iam  non  plus,  ut  velit  ipsa,  potest. 
10 


BOOK    VIII.  vm-xi 

long  ages,  albeit  pious  incense  invokes  thee,  prayers 
salute  thee  first,  to  thee  the  consul's  joyous  purple, 
to  thee  every  magistrate  pays  court,  yet  this  thou 
countest  more — it  has  been  thy  fortune,  Janus,  in 
thine  own  month  to  see  our  god  l  returning  home  ! 


IX 

HYLAS,  when  blear-eyed,  Quintus,  was  willing  lately 
to  pay  you  three-quarters  of  his  debt ;  now  he  is  one- 
eyed  he  is  willing  to  give  half.  Take  it  at  once  : 
brief  is  the  opportunity  for  gain ;  if  he  become 
blind,  Hylas  won't  pay  you  a  penny. 


BASSUS  has  bought  a  cloak  for  ten  thousand  ses- 
terces, a  Tyrian  of  the  best  colour.  He  has  made 
a  bargain.  "  Did  he  buy  so  cheap  ?  "  you  ask.  Aye, 
he  is  not  going  to  pay. 

XI 

THAT  thou  hast  come  to  thy  city  Rhine  knows 
already,  for  he  too  hears  the  voices  of  thy  people  : 
Sarmatian  tribes  as  well,  and  Hister  and  the  Getae, 
the  very  shout  of  our  new-found  gladness  has  af- 
feared.  While  in  the  sacred  Circus  applause  long 
sustained  revered  thee,  110  man  perceived  the  steeds 
had  four  times  been  started.  No  chief  has  Rome 
so  loved,  nor  thee  so  much,  Caesar,  as  now  ;  thee 
too,  albeit  she  would,  she  cannot  now  love  more. 

1  The  Emperor. 

II 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XII 

UXOREM  quare  locupletem  ducere  nolim 
quaeritis  ?  uxori  nubere  nolo  meae. 

inferior  matrona  suo  sit,  Prisce,  marito  : 
non  aliter  fiunt  femina  virque  pares. 

XIII 

MORIO  dictus  erat :  viginti  milibus  emi. 
redde  mihi  nummos,  Gargiliane  :  sapit. 

XIV 

PALLIDA  ne  Cilicum  timeant  pomaria  brumam, 

mordeat  et  tenerum  fortior  aura  nemus. 
hibernis  obiecta  Notis  specularia  puros 

admittunt  soles  et  sine  faece  diem, 
at  mihi  cella  datur  non  tota  clusa  fenestra, 

in  qua  nee  Boreas  ipse  manere  velit. 
sic  habitare  iubes  veterem  crudelis  amicum  ? 

arboris  ergo  tuae  tutior  hospes  ero. 

XV 

DUM  nova  Pannonici  numeratur  gloria  belli, 
omnis  et  ad  reducem  dum  litat  ara  lovem, 

dat  populus,  dat  gratus  eques,  dat  tura  senatus, 
et  ditant  Latias  tertia  dona  tribus, 


1  Naturals  or  cretins   were  kept  as   curiosit  es :  ff.  in. 
Ixxxii.  24  ;  xn.  xciii.  3. 


12 


BOOK   VIII.  xn-xv 

XII 

"  WHY  am  1  unwilling  to  marry  a  rich  wife  ?  "  Do 
you  ask?  I  am  unwilling  to  take  my  wife  as  husband. 
Let  the  matron  be  subject  to  her  husband,  Priscus ; 
in  no  other  way  do  woman  and  man  become  equal. 

XIII 

HE  had  been  described  as  an  idiot;1  I  bought  him 
for  twenty  thousand  sesterces.  Give  me  back  my 
money,  Gargilianus  ;  he  has  his  wits. 

XIV 

THAT  your  orchard  trees  from  Cilicia  may  not  grow 
wan  and  dread  the  winter,  nor  too  keen  an  air  nip 
the  tender  boughs,  glass  casements  facing  the  wintry 
south  winds  admit  the  clear  suns  and  daylight  un- 
defiled.  But  to  me  is  assigned  a  garret,  shut  in  by 
an  ill-fitting  window,  in  which  even  Boreas  himself 
would  not  care  to  abide.  Is  it  in  such  a  lodging  you 
cruelly  bid  your  old  friend  dwell  ?  Then  as  the 
guest  of  one  of  your  trees  I  shall  be  more  protected.2 

XV 

WHAT  time  from  Pannoniaii  war  new  glory  is  added 
to  the  tale,  and  eveiy  altar  makes  fair  offerings  to 
greet  returning  Jove,  while  the  people  gives,  the 
grateful  knights  give,  the  Senate  gives  incense,  and 
a  third  largess  makes  rich  the  Latin  tribes,  Rome 

2  cf,  a  similar  epigram,  viu.  Ixviii. 

13 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

hos  quoque  secretes  memoravit1  Roma  triumphos,    5 
nee  minor  ista  tuae  laurea  pacis  erat,2 

quod  tibi  de  sancta  credis  pietate  tuorum. 
principis  est  virtus  maxima  nosse  suos. 

XVI 

PISTOR  qui  fueras  diu,  Cypere, 

causas  nunc  agis  et  ducena  quaeris : 

sed  consumis  et  usque  mutuaris. 

a  pistore,  Cypere^  non  recedis  : 

et  panem  facis  et  facis  farinam.  5 

XVII 

EGI,  Sexte,  tuam  pactus  duo  milia  causam. 

misisti  nummos  quod  mihi  mille  quid  est  ? 
"  Narrasti  nihil "  inquis  "  et  a  te  perdita  causa  est." 

tanto  plus  debes,  Sexte,  quod  erubui. 

XVIII 

Si  tua,  Cerrini,  prornas  epigrammata  vulgo, 

vel  mecum  possis  vel  prior  ipse  legi : 
sed  tibi  tantus  inest  veteris  respectus  amici, 

carior  ut  mea  sit  quam  tua  fama  tibi. 

1  memorabit  j8.  *  erit  0. 

1  Domitian  had  waived  a  formal  triumph,  merely  dedicat- 
ing a  laurel-wreath  (ista  laurea,  1.  6)  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus  : 
Suet.  Dom.  vi. ;  Stat.  Sylv.  in.  Hi.  171. 


BOOK    VIII.  xv-xvm 

has  made  memorable  this  triumph  also,  though  con- 
cealed ; l  nor  was  the  laurel  that  marks  the  peace 
thou  bringest  of  less  account,  because  touching  thy 
people's  reverent  love  thou  dost  trust  thyself.2  A 
Prince's  greatest  virtue  is  to  know  his  own. 

XVI 

You  who  were  long  a  baker,  Cyperus,  now  conduct 
cases,  and  look  to  make  two  hundred  thousand  ses- 
terces a  year ;  but  you  squander  them,  and  are 
continually  raising  loans.  You  do  not  part  from 
your  role  of  baker,  Cyperus ;  you  make  your  bread — 
and  make  your  dust  fly  too.3 

XVII 

I  HAVE  pleaded  your  case,  Sextus,  for  an  agreed 
fee  of  two  thousand  sesterces.  What  is  the  reason 
you  have  sent  me  one  thousand  ?  "  You  set  out 
none  of  the  facts,"  you  remark,  "and  by  you  my 
case  was  ruined."  You  owe  me  all  the  more,  Sextus; 
I  blushed. 

XVIII 

WERE  you,  Cerrinius,  to  issue  your  epigrams  to  the 
public,  you  might  be  read  in  rivalry  with  me,  or  even 
as  my  superior ;  but  so  great  is  your  regard  for  your 
old  friend  that  dearer  to  you  is  my  fame  than  your 

2  i.e.  thou  canst   rely  on   the  people  understanding  the 
greatness  of  thy  victory  without  a  triumph. 

3  i.e.  you  dissipate  your  earnings,  as  grain  is  reduced  to 
the  dust  of  flour.     Or  perhaps  the  metaphor  is  taken  from 
flour  falling  through  the  meshes  of  a  sieve :  cf.  Pers.  iii.  112. 

15 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

sic  Maro  nee  Calabri  temptavit  carmina  Flacci,          5 
Pindaricos  nosset  cum  superare  modos, 

et  Vario  cessit  Romani  laude  coturni, 
cum  posset  tragico  fortius  ore  loqui. 

aurum  et  opes  et  rura  frequens  donabit  amicus  : 
qui  velit  ingenio  cedere  rarus  erit.  10 

XIX 

PAUPER  videri  Cinna  vult ;  et  est  pauper. 

XX 

CUM  facias  versus  nulla  non  luce  ducenos, 
Vare,  nihil  recitas.     non  sapis,  atque  sapis. 

XXI 

PHOSPHORE,  redde  diem  :  quid  gaudia  nostra  moraris  ? 

Caesare  venture,  Phosphore,  redde  diem. 
Roma  rogat.     placidi  numquid  te  pigra  Bootae 

plaustra  vehunt,  lento  quod  nimis  axe  venis  ? 
Ledaeo  poteras  abducere  Cyllaron  astro  :  5 

ipse  suo  cedet  nunc  tibi  Castor  equo. 
quid  cupidum  Titana  tenes  ?  iam  Xanthus  et  Aethon 

frena  volunt,  vigilat  Memnonis  alma  parens. 
tarda  tamen  nitidae  non  cedunt  sidera  luci, 

et  cupit  Ausonium  luna  videre  ducem.  10 

iam,  Caesar,  vel  nocte  veni  :  stent  astra  licebit, 

non  derit  populo  te  veniente  dies. 

1  Horace. 

'*  It  is  fatal  to  appear  poor  :  cf.  v.  Ixxxi. 
*  The  Constellation  of  the  Lesser  Bear. 
16 


BOOK    VIII.  xvm-xxi 

own.  So  Maro  did  not  even  attempt  the  lyrics  of 
Calabrian  Flaccus,1  although  his  skill  might  have 
surpassed  the  measures  of  Pindar,  and  he  gave  place 
to  Varius  in  the  renown  of  the  Roman  buskin,  though 
he  might  have  spoken  in  tragic  tone  with  stronger 
voice.  Gold  and  possessions  and  lands  many  a  friend 
will  bestow :  he  who  is  willing  to  yield  in  genius  will 
be  rare. 

XIX 
CINNA  wishes  to  appear  poor,  and  he  is  poor.2 

XX 

ALTHOUGH  no  day  passes  but  you  compose  two 
hundred  verses,  Varus,  you  recite  none  of  them. 
You  have  no  wit — and  yet  are  wise. 

XXI 

PHOSPHOR,  bring  us  back  day ;  why  puttest  thou 
off  our  joys  ?  Now  Caesar  comes,  Phosphor,  bring 
us  back  day,  Rome  begs  thee.  Doth  the  sluggish 
wain  of  slow-twisting  Bootes  3  bear  thee,  that  thou 
comest  with  too  slow  an  axle  ?  Thou  mightest  have 
withdrawn  Cyllarus4  from  Leda's  constellation ;  freely 
will  Castor  now  yield  his  steed  to  thee.  Why  stayest 
thou  eager  Titan?  Already  Xanthus  and  Aethon5 
look  for  the  reins ;  Memnon's  kindly  Mother0  wakes. 
Yet  the  slow  stars  yield  not  to  glowing  light,  and 
the  moon  longs  to  see  Ausonia's  Chief.  Now,  Caesar, 
come  thou,  even  by  night ;  let  the  stars  stand  still ; 
the  people,  when  thou  comest,  shall  not  want  for  day. 

*  The  horse  of  Castor  :  cf.  vui.  xxviii.  8. 

5  Horses  of  the  Sun  :  cf.  in.  Ixvii.  5. 

6  Aurora,  goddess  of  the  morning. 

17 

VOL.   II.  C 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXII 

INVITAS  ad  aprum,  ponis  mihi,  Gallice,  porcum. 
hybrida  sum,  si  das,  Gallice,  verba  mihi. 

XXIII 

ESSE  tibi  videor  saevus  nimiumque  gulosus, 
qui  propter  cenam,  Rustice,  caedo  cocum. 

si  levis  ista  tibi  flagrorum  causa  videtur, 
ex  qua  vis  causa  vapulet  ergo  cocus? 

XXIV 

Si  quid  forte  petam  timido  gracilique  libello, 
inproba  non  fuerit  si  mea  charta,  dato. 

et  si  non  dederis,  Caesar,  permitte  rogari : 
ofFendunt  numquam  tura  precesque  lovem. 

qui  fingit  sacros  auro  vel  marmore  vultus,  5 

non  facit  ille  deos :  qui  rogat,  ille  facit. 

XXV 

VIDISTI  semel,  Oppiane,  tantum 
aegrum  me  :  male  saepe  te  videbo. 

XXVI 

NON  tot  in  Eois  timuit  Gangeticus  arvis 
raptor,  in  Hyrcano  qui  fugit  albus  equo, 

quot  tua  Roma  novas  vidit,  Germanice,  tigres, 
delicias  potuit  nee  numerare  suas. 

1  Hybrids  were  supposed  to  want  sense.  A  hybrid  pri- 
marily meant  the  offspring  of  a  sow  and  of  a  wild  boar :  cf. 
Plin.  N.  H.  viii.  79. 

18 


BOOK    VIII.  XXH-XXVI 


XXII 

You  invite  me  to  a  boar ;  you  set  before  me,  Gal- 
licus,  a  pig.  I  am  a  hybrid  l  myself  if  you  can  deceive 
me,  Gallicus. 

XXIII 

I  APPEAR  to  you  cruel  and  over  gluttonous  because, 
on  account  of  the  dinner,  Rusticus,  I  lash  my  cook. 
If  that  seem  to  you  a  slight  reason  for  a  beating, 
for  what  reason,  then,  do  you  wish  a  cook  to  be 
flogged  ? 

XXIV 

IF  I  may  by  chance  ask  for  something  in  my  bashful 
and  slender  little  volume,  if  my  page  be  not  overbold, 
do  thou  grant  it.  And  even  if  thou  shalt  not  grant 
it,  Caesar,  allow  the  asking :  incense  and  prayers 
never  offend  Jove.  He  who  shapes  sacred  lineaments 
in  gold  or  marble  does  not  make  gods :  he  makes 
them  who  prays. 

XXV 

You  came  to  see  me  once  only  when  I  was  ill.  It 
will  go  badly  with  me  if  I  see  you  often. 2 

XXVI 

TIGRESSES  not  so  many  has  the  robber  3  dreaded  in 
Eastern  fields  by  Ganges'  side,  as  he  flies  with  pale 
face  on  his  Hyrcanian  steed,  as  but  now  thy  Rome, 
Germanicus,  has  seen,  nor  could  she  count  what  gave 


s  cf.  v.  ix. 
3  i.e.  of  cubs. 


19 
c  2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

vincit  Erythraeos  tua,  Caesar,  harena  triumphos        5 

et  victoris  opes  divitiasque  del : 
nam  cum  captives  ageret  sub  curribus  Indos, 

contentus  gemina  tigride  Bacchus  erat. 

XXVII 

MUNERA  qui  tibi  dat  locupleti,  Gaure,  senique, 
si  sapis  et  sentis,  hoc  tibi  ait  "  Morere." 

XXVIII 

Die,  toga,  facundi  gratum  mihi  munus  amici, 

esse  velis  cuius  fama  decusque  gregis  ? 
Apula  Ledaei  tibi  floruit  herba  Phalanthi, 

qua  saturat  Calabris  culta  Galaesus  aquis  ? 
an  Tartesiacus  stabuli  nutritor  Hiberi  5 

Baetis  in  Hesperia  te  quoque  lavit  ove  ? 
an  tua  multifidum  numeravit  lana  Timavum, 

quern  pius  astrifero  Cyllarus  ore  bibit  ? 
te  nee  Amyclaeo  decuit  livere  veneno 

nee  Miletos  erat  vellere  digna  tuo.  10 

lilia  tu  vincis  nee  adhuc  delapsa  ligustra 

et  Tiburtino  monte  quod  albet  ebur; 
Spartanus  tibi  cedet  olor  Paphiaeque  columbae, 

cedet  Erythraeis  eruta  gemma  vadis  : 
sed  licet  haec  primis  nivibus  sint  aemula  dona,        15 

non  sunt  Parthenio  candidiora  suo. 

1  Bacchus,  according  to  myth,  made  an  expedition  into 
the  East,  where  he  taught  the  conquered  nations  the  use  of 
the  vine.  He  was  represented  as  drawn  by  tigers. 


20 


BOOK    VIII.  xxvi-xxvm 

her  delight.  Thy  Arena,  Caesar,  has  surpassed  Indian 
triumphs  and  the  wealth  and  riches  of  the  victor 
god ; 1  for  Bacchus,  while  he  drove  beneath  the  yoke 
the  captive  Indians,  was  content  with  two  tigresses 
alone. 

XXVII 

HE  who  gives  presents,  Gaurus,  to  you,  a  rich  man 
and  old,  if  you  have  wit  and  sense,  says  this  to 
you — "Die." 

XXVIII 

SAY,  Toga,  welcome  gift  to  me  of  my  eloquent 
friend,  of  what  flock  wouldst  thou  be  the  fame  and 
glory  ?  Did  the  Apulian  herbage  of  Spartan  Phalan- 
thus  flourish  for  thy  sake,  where  Galaesus  2  floods  the 
tilth  with  Calabrian  waters  ?  or  did  Tartessian  Baetis, 
nurse  of  Hiberian  flocks,  wash  thee  too  on  the  back 
of  a  Spanish  sheep  ? 3  or  has  thy  wool  counted  the 
mouths  of  many-cleft  Timavus,  whereof  trusty  Cyl- 
larus,4  now  amid  the  stars,  once  drank?  Thee  it 
beseemed  not  to  darken  with  Spartan  dye,  nor  was 
Miletus  worthy  to  stain  thy  fleece.  Lilies  thou 
dost  outshine,  and  privet  yet  unfallen,  and  the  ivory 
that  gleams  white  on  Tibur's  mount ;  Sparta's  swan 
shall  yield  to  thee  and  Paphian  doves,  there  shall 
yield  the  pearl  plucked  out  from  Eastern  shoals. 
Yet,  albeit  this  gift  vies  with  new  fallen  snow,  'tis 
not  more  dazzling  white  5  than  Parthenius  its  giver. 

2  A  river  near  Tarentum  founded  by  the  Spartan  Phalan- 
thus.  The  district  was  famed  for  the  fine  fleeces  of  its 
sheep :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  n.  vi.  10. 

1  cf.  v.  xxxvii.  7.  *  cf.  iv.  xxv.  6. 

5  An  allusion  to  the  etymology  of  Parthenius'  name  (ir«p- 
Bfvtot  =  virgin- white), 

21 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

non  ego  praetulerim  Babylonos  picta  superbae 

texta  Samiramia  quae  variantur  acu  ; 
non  Athamanteo  potius  me  mirer  in  auro, 

Aeolium  dones  si  mihi,  Phrixe,  pecus.  20 

o  quantos  risus  pariter  spectata  movebit 

cum  Palatina  nostra  lacerna  toga  ! 

XXIX 

DISTICHA  qui  scribit,  puto,  vult  brevitate  placere. 
quid  prodest  brevitas,  die  mihi,  si  liber  est  ? 

XXX 

Qui  nunc  Caesareae  lusus  spectatur  harenae, 

temporibus  Bruti  gloria  summa  fuit. 
aspicis  ut  teneat  flammas  poenaque  fruatur, 

fortis  et  attonito  regnet  in  igne  manus  ! 
ipse  sui  spectator  adest  et  nobile  dextrae  5 

funus  amat :  totis  pascitur  ilia  sacris  ; 
quod  nisi  rapta  foret  nolenti  poena,  parabat 

saevior  in  lassos  ire  sinistra  focos. 
scire  piget  post  tale  decus  quid  fecerit  ante  : 

quam  vidi  satis  hanc  est  mihi  nosse  manum.         10 

XXXI 

NESCIO  quid  de  te  non  belle,  Dento,  fateris, 

coniuge  qui  ducta  iura  paterna  petis. 
sed  iam  supplicibus  dominum  lassare  libellis 

desine  et  in  patriam  serus  ab  urbe  redi : 

1  Phryxus'  ram  with  the  golden  fleece  :  cf.  vi.  iii.  6. 
1  A  hint  for  a  new  cloak. 

22 


BOOK  VIII.  XXVIII-XAXI 

I  could  not  more  prize  proud  Babylon's  painted 
tapestry  embroidered  by  Semiramis'  needle ;  no 
more  should  I  admire  myself  in  gold  of  Athamas,  if 
thou,  Phryxus,  wert  to  give  me  the  ram  of  Aeolus' 
son.1  Oh,  what  laughter  will  my  worn  cloak  excite 
seen  together  with  this  toga  from  the  Palatine ! 2 

XXIX 

HE  who  writes  distichs  wishes,  I  imagine,  to  please 
by  brevity.  What  is  the  use  of  brevity,  tell  me,  if 
it  constitute  a  book? 

XXX 

WHAT  now  entertains  as  a  spectacle  in  Caesar's 
Arena  was  in  Brutus'  days  their  chiefest  glory.3  You 
see  how  the  hand  grasps  the  flame  and  relishes  its 
punishment,  and  bravely  lords  it  amid  the  astonished 
fire  !  His  own  spectator  is  he,  and  he  admires  his 
right  hand's  noble  death  ;  in  the  full  sacrifice  that 
hand  delights.  Had  not,  against  its  will,  that 
penalty  been  denied  it,  his  left  hand — fiercer  still — 
was  ready  to  pass  to  the  sated  hearth.  I  care  not, 
after  such  a  feat,  to  learn  what  was  its  crime  before  : 
enough  for  me  to  have  known  the  prowess  of  the 
hand  I  saw. 

XXXI 

'Tis  not  a  pretty  sort  of  confession,  Dento,  you 
make  about  yourself,  who,  after  you  have  married  a 
wife,  ask  for  paternal  rights.4  Cease  at  last  with 
suppliant  petitions  to  weary  our  Master,  and,  though 
late,  return  from  the  city  to  your  own  country. 

3  cf.  x.  xxv.,  where  a  different  view  is  taken  of  Mucius' 
heroism.  4  cf.  u,  xci.  and  xcii. 

23 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

nam  dum  tu  longe  deserta  uxore  diuque 
tres  quaeris  natos,  quattuor  invenies. 


XXXII 

AERA  per  taciturn  delapsa  sedentis  in  ipsos 

fluxit  Aratullae  blanda  columba  sinus, 
luserat  hoc  casus,  nisi  inobservata  maneret 

permissaque  sibi  nollet  abire  fuga. 
si  meliora  piae  fas  est  sperare  sorori 

et  dominum  mundi  flectere  vota  valent, 
haec  a  Sardois  tibi  forsitan  exulis  oris, 

fratre  reversuro,  nuntia  venit  avis. 


XXXIII 

DE  praetoricia  folium  mihi,  Paule,  corona 

mittis  et  hoc  phialae  nomen  habere  iubes. 
hac  fuerat  nuper  nebula  tibi  pegma  perunctum, 

pallida  quam  rubri  diluit  unda  croci. 
an  magis  astuti  derasa  est  ungue  ministri  5 

brattea,  de  fulcro  quam  reor  esse  tuo  ? 
ilia  potest  culicem  longe  sentire  volantem 

et  minimi  pinna  papilionis  agi ; 
exiguae  volitat  suspensa  vapore  lucernae 

et  leviter  fuso  rumpitur  icta  mero.  10 

hoc  linitur  sputo  lani  caryota  Kalendis, 

quam  fert  cum  parco  sordidus  asse  cliens. 

1  Paulus  (cf.  vii.  Ixxii.)  had  sent  M.  a  cup  of  such  thin 
metal  that  it  could  hardly  be  called  a  cup.  An  epigram 
against  paltry  gifts. 


BOOK  VIII.  xxxi-xxxm 

Otherwise,  after  deserting  your  wife  at  such  a  dis- 
tance and  for  so  long,  while  you  are  seeking  three 
sons  you  will  discover  four ! 

XXXII 

GLIDING  down  through  the  still  air,  a  winsome 
dove  fluttered  into  Aretulla's  very  bosom  as  she  sat. 
Chance  might  have  played  the  freak  had  not  the 
bird  stayed,  all  unguarded,  and  refused  to  take  the 
flight  permitted  to  it.  If  a  loving  sister  may  hope 
for  happier  things,  and  prayers  avail  to  move  the 
Master  of  the  World,  belike  from  Sardinia's  shores 
this  bird  came  to  thee,  the  exile's  messenger,  to 
herald  thy  brother's  return. 

XXXIII 

FROM  your  praetor's  crown,  Paulus,  you  send  me  a 
leaf  and  require  this  to  be  called  a  bowl.1  With  this 
film  your  platform 2  was  lately  coated,  and  the  pale 
stream  of  red  saffron3  washed  it  away.  Or  rather 
was  it  a  flake — I  think,  belonging  to  the  leg  of  your 
couch — scraped  off  by  the  nail  of  a  cunning  slave  ? 
It  can  from  a  distance  feel  the  fluttering  of  a  gnat, 
and  be  wafted  by  the  wing  of  the  very  smallest  but- 
terfly ;  it  floats  in  air,  kept  up  by  the  heat  of  a  tiny 
lamp,  and,  splashed  with  wine  even  lightly  sprinkled, 
it  dissolves.  With  such  a  layer  is  coated  on  the 
Kalends  of  January  the  nut  4  which  a  shabby  client 
brings  as  a  gift  together  with  small  coin.  Pliant 

2  cf.  Lib.  Sped.  ii.  2.  »  cf.  Lib.  Sped.  iii.  8. 

4  Symbolic  gifts,  like  Easter  eggs :  cf.  xni.  xxvii  :  Ov.  F. 
i.  189. 

25 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

lenta  minus  gracili  crescunt  colocasia  filo, 

plena  magis  nimio  lilia  sole  cadunt ; 
nee  vaga  tarn  tenui  discurrit  aranea  tela,  15 

tarn  leve  nee  bombyx  pendulus  urget  opus, 
cvassior  in  facie  vetulae  stat  creta  Fabullae, 

crassior  offensae  bulla  tumescit  aquae  ; 
fortior  et  tortos  servat  vesica  capillos 

et  mutat  Latias  spuma  Batava  comas.  20 

hac  cute  Ledaeo  vestitur  pullus  in  ovo, 

talia  lunata  splenia  fronte  sedent. 
quid  tibi  cum  phiala,  ligulam  cum  mittere  possis, 

mittere  cum  possis  vel  cocleare  mihi, 
(magna  nimis  loquimur),  cocleam  cum  mittere  possis, 

denique  cum  possis  mittere,  Paule,  nihil  ?  26 


XXXIV 

ARCHETYPUM  Myos  argentum  te  dicis  habere. 

quod  sine  te  factum  est  hoc  magis  archetypum  est  ? 


XXXV 

CUM  sitis  similes  paresque  vita, 
uxor  pessima,  pessimus  maritus, 
miror  non  bene  convenire  vobis. 


XXXVI 

REGIA  pyramidum,  Caesar,  miracula  ride  ; 
iam  tacet  Eoum  barbara  Memphis  opus  : 

1  A  kind  of  soap  giving  the  hair  a  light  hue  :  cf.  xiv. 
xxvi.  2  cf.  n.  xxix.  9. 

8  An  ancient  Greek  artist,  famous  for  working  in  silver : 
cf.  xiv.  xcv.  He  was  contemporary  with  Phidias. 

26 


BOOK    VIII.  xxxm-xxxvi 

Egyptian  beans  grow  with  a  less  slender  filament, 
of  thicker  mould  are  lily  leaves  that  fall  beneath  the 
overpowering  sun  ;  nor  does  the  spider  dart  about 
a  web  so  slender,  nor  the  pendulous  silkworm  ply 
a  work  so  light.  Denser  stands  the  chalk  on  old 
Fabulla's  face,  denser  swells  the  bubble  in  tumbled 
water,  and  stronger  is  the  bladder-net  that  confines 
knotted  locks,  and  the  Batavian  pomade l  that  trans- 
forms Latin  tresses.  With  skin  like  this  is  clothed 
the  chick  in  a  swan's  egg,  such  are  the  patches  that 
rest  on  a  crescent-plastered  2  brow.  What  use  have 
you  for  a  bowl  when  you  can  send  me  a  tablespoon, 
when  you  can  send  me  even  a  snail-pick — I  am  sug- 
gesting too  great  things — when  you  can  send  me  a 
snail-shell :  in  a  word,  when  you,  Paulus,  can  send 
me  nothing? 

XXXIV 

You  say  you  have  a  piece  of  silver,  a  genuine 
antique  by  Mys.3  Is  that  which  was  made  without 
your  assistance  any  the  more  an  antique  ?  4 

XXXV 

SEEING  that  you  are  like  one  another,  and  a  pair 
in  your  habits,  vilest  of  wives,  vilest  of  husbands, 
I  wonder  you  don't  agree ! 

XXXVI 

LAUGH,  Caesar,  at  the  regal  wonders  of  the  Pyra- 
mids :  now  barbaric  Memphis  speaks  not  of  her 

4  Perhaps  addressed  to  a  silversmith  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  "  faking  "  his  antiques.  "  You  may  not  have  faked  this," 
says  M.,  "  but  that  does  not  prove  it  genuine." 

27 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

pars  quota  Parrhasiae  labor  est  Mareoticus  aulae  ! 

clarius  in  toto  nil  videt  orbe  dies, 
septenos  pariter  credas  adsurgere  monies  ;  5 

Thessalicum  brevior  Pelion  Ossa  tulit ; 
aethei'a  sic  intrat  nitidis  ut  conditus  astris 

inferiore  tonet  nube  serenus  apex 
et  prius  arcano  satietur  numine  Phoebi 

nascentis  Circe  quam  videt  ova  patris.  10 

haec,  Auguste,  tamen,  quae  vertice  sidera  pulsat, 

par  domus  est  caelo  sed  minor  est  domino. 

XXXVII 

QUOD  Caietano  reddis,  Polycharme,  tabellas, 

milia  te  centum  num  tribuisse  putas  ? 
"Debuit  haec  "  inquis.  tibi  habe,  Polycharme,  tabellas 

et  Caietano  milia  crede  duo. 


XXXVIII 

Qui  praestat  pietate  pertinaci 

sensuro  bona  liberal  itatis, 

captet  forsitan  aut  vicem  reposcat. 

at  si  quis  dare  nomini  relicto 

post  manes  tumulumque  perseverat,  5 

quaerit  quid  nisi  parcius  dolere  ? 

refert  sis  bonus  an  velis  videri. 

praestas  hoc,  Melior,  sciente  fama, 

qui  sollemnibus  anxius  sepulti 

nomen  non  sinis  interire  Blaesi,  10 

1  cf.  vn.  Ivi. 

2  When  the  giants  attempted  to  scale  heaven  in  their  war 
with  the  gods,  they  piled  Pelion  upon  Ossa,  both  mountains 
in  Thessaly. 

28 


BOOK   VIII.  xxxvi-xxxvm 

Eastern  work.  How  small  a  part  of  the  Palatine 
hall l  would  Egypt's  toil  achieve  !  Nothing  so  grand 
the  eye  of  day  sees  in  all  the  world.  You  would 
believe  the  seven  hills  uprose  all  together  ;  Ossa  with 
Thessalian  Pelion  atop  was  not  so  high  ; 2  Heaven  it 
so  pierces  that,  hidden  amid  the  lustrous  stars,  its 
peak  echoes  sunlit  to  the  thunder  in  the  cloud  below, 
and  is  sated  with  Phoebus'  mystic  power  ere  Circe  3 
views  her  sire's  springing  face.  And  yet,  Augustus, 
this  palace  that  with  its  pinnacle  touches  the  stars, 
though  level  with  Heaven,  is  less  than  its  lord. 

XXXVII 

BECAUSE,  Polycharmus,  you  return  to  Caietanus  his 
bond,  do  you  really  imagine  you  have  given  him  a 
hundred  thousand  sesterces  ?  "  He  owed  this  sum," 
you  say.  Keep  your  bond,  Polycharmus,  and  trust 
Caietanus  with  two  thousand.4 

XXXVIII 

HE  who  with  constant  devotion  bestows  gifts  on 
one  who  will  feel  the  bounty's  good,  fishes  perhaps 
or  claims  return.  But  if  any  man  persist  in  giving 
to  the  name  that  survives  death  and  the  tomb,  what 
profit  seeks  he  but  assuagement  of  grief?  Wide  is 
the  difference  'twixt  goodness  and  pretence.  This 
gift,  as  fame  knows,  you,  Melior,  make ;  who,  in 
your  care,  by  solemn  rites  forbid  to  perish  the  name 
of  buried  Blaesus,  and  that  his  birthday  should  be 

3  Daughter  of  the  Sun,  which  was  said  to  strike  first  upon 
her  island.     Here  put  for  Circeii  in  Latium. 

4  cf.  a  similar  epigram,  ix.  cii. 

29 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

et  de  munifica  profusus  area 

ad  natalicium  diem  colendum 

scribarum  memori  piaeque  turbae 

quod  donas,  facis  ipse  Blaesianum. 

hoc  longum  tibi,  vita  dum  manebit,  15 

hoc  et  post  cineres  erit  tributum. 


XXXIX 

Qui  Palatinae  caperet  convivia  mensae 
ambrosiasque  dapes  non  erat  ante  locus  : 

hie  haurire  decet  sacrum,  Germauice,  nectar 
et  Ganymedea  pocula  mixta  manu. 

esse  velis,  oro,  serus  conviva  Tonantis  : 
at  tu  si  properas,  luppiter,  ipse  veni. 

XL 

NON  horti  neque  palmitis  beati 
sed  rari  nemoris,  Priape,  custos, 
ex  quo  natus  es  et  potes  renasci, 
furaces,  moneo,  manus  repellas 
et  silvam  domini  focis  reserves  : 
si  defecerit  haec,  et  ipse  lignum  es. 


XLI 

"  TRISTIS  Athenagoras  non  misit  munera  nobis 
quae  medio  brumae  mittere  mense  solet." 

an  sit  Athenagoras  tristis,  Faustine,  videbo : 
me  certe  tristem  fecit  Athenagoras. 

1  He  endows  the  guild  of  scribes  with  a  fund  out  of  which 
3° 


BOOK    VIII.  XXXVIII-XLI 

kept,  in  your  lavish  bounty  out  of  a  princely  coffer 
to  the  school  of  scribes — a  company  that  remembers 
him  and  loves — yourself  celebrate  a  feast  to  Blaesus.1 
This  shall  be  your  long-enduring  tribute  while  life 
shall  last,  this  also  after  you  are  dust. 

XXXIX 

LARGE  enough  to  hold  the  revels  of  the  Palatine 
board  and  its  ambrosial  feasts,  was  no  place  hereto- 
fore ;  here  it  beseems  thee,  Germanicus,  to  quaff 
thy  nectar  divine,  and  cups  blent  by  Ganymede's 
hand.  May  it  be  late,  I  beseech  thee,  that  thou 
dost  consent  to  be  the  Thunderer's  guest ;  but  do 
thou,  Jupiter,  if  thou  art  impatient,  come  hither 
thyself. 

XL 

PRIAPUS,  guardian,  not  of  parterre  or  blooming 
vine,  but  of  the  thin  wood  wherefrom  thou  wert 
born  and  canst  be  born  again,  keep  off,  I  warn  thee, 
thievish  hands,  and  preserve  my  copse  for  its  master's 
hearth.  If  this  copse  fail,  thou  also  art  wood  !2 

XLI 

"  ATHENAGORAS  regrets  he  did  not  send  me  the 
presents  he  is  used  to  send  in  the  middle  of  winter's 
month."  Whether  Athenagoras  regrets,  Faustinus, 
I  will  consider ;  me,  at  any  rate,  Athenagoras  made 
regret. 

to  celebrate  annually  the  birthday  of  B.  "In  effect,"  says 
M.,  "you  do  this  yourself  every  year." 

2  i.e.  and  may  be  burned  instead.  Horace  (Sat.  i.  viii.  2) 
with  like  flippancy  treats  Priapus  as  little  better  than  wood. 

31 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XLII 

Si  te  sportula  maior  ad  beatos 
non  corruperit,  ut  solet,  licebit 
de  nostro,  Matho,  centies  laveris. 

XLIII 

EFFERT  uxores  Fabius,  Chrestilla  maritos, 
funereamque  toris  quassat  uterque  facem. 

victores  committe,  Venus  :  quos  iste  manebit 
exitus,  una  duos  ut  Libitina  ferat. 

XLIV 

TITULLE,  moneo,  vive  :  semper  hoc  serum  est ; 

sub  paedagogo  coeperis  licet,  serum  est. 

at  tu,  miser  Titulle,  nee  senex  vivis, 

sed  omne  limen  conteris  salutator 

et  mane  sudas  urbis  osculis  udus,  5 

foroque  triplici  sparsus  ante  equos  omnis 

aedemque  Martis  et  colosson  Augusti 

curris  per  omnis  tertiasque  quintasque. 

rape,  congere,  aufer,  posside  :  relinquendum  est. 

superba  densis  area  palleat  nummis,  10 

centum  explicentur  paginae  Kalendarum  : 

iurabit  heres  te  nihil  reliquisse, 

supraque  pluteum  te  iacente  vel  saxum, 

fartus  papyro  dum  tibi  torus  crescit, 

flentis  superbus  basiabit  eunuchos  ;  15 

tuoque  tristis  films,  velis  nolis, 

cum  concubino  nocte  dormiet  prima. 

1  A  hundred  farthings  (quadrantes)  was  the  client's  usual 
allowance  (cf.  in.  vii.  1),  and  a  quadrant  was  the  price  of  a 
bath. 

32 


BOOK    VIII.  xm-xLiv 

XLII 

IF  greater  -dole  has  not,  as  is  usual,  bribed  you  to 
court  wealthy  men,  you  may  bathe,  Matho,  a  hundred 
times  at  my  expense.1 

XLIII 

FABIUS  buries  his  wives,  Chrestilla  her  husbands, 
and  each  of  them  waves  the  funeral  torch  over  a 
marriage-bed.  Match  the  victors,  Venus  ;  this  is  the 
end  that  will  await  them — one  funeral  to  convey 
the  pair. 

XLIV 

TITULLUS,  I  warn  you,  live  your  life :  ever  this 
comes  late ;  though  you  begin  under  a  pedagogue, 
'tis  late.  But  you,  wretched  Titullus,  do  not  live 
even  in  old  age,  but  wear  out  every  threshold  at 
levees,  and  sweat  at  daybreak  beslavered  with  the 
kisses  of  the  town ;  and  in  the  three  Forums,  mud- 
bespattered  in  front  of  all  the  Equestrian  statues,  and 
the  Temple  of  Mars,  and  the  Colossus  2  of  Augustus, 
you  hurry  ever  from  the  third  to  the  fifth  hours.3 
Plunder,  hoard,  rob,  possess:  you  must  resign  it  all. 
Let  your  proud  money-chest  be  yellow  with  crowded 
coins,  an  hundred  pages  of  debts  due  on  the  Kalends 
be  opened,  your  heir  will  swear  you  have  left  no- 
thing. And  even  when  you  are  laid  out  on  bier 
or  stone,  while,  stuffed  with  papyrus,  your  pyre  is 
growing  high,  he  will  in  insolence  kiss  the  weeping 
eunuchs ;  and  your  mourning  son,  whether  you  wish 
it  or  not,  will  the  first  night  sleep  with  your  favourite. 

-  A  bronze  statue  of  Augustus  in  the  Forum  that  bore  his 
name. 

3  i.e.  during  the  business  hours  of  the  day  :  cf.  iv.  viii.  2,  3. 

33 
VOL.  a.  D 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XLV 

PRISCUS  ab  Aetnaeis  tnihi,  Flacce,  Terentius  oris 

redditur  :  hanc  lucem  lactea  gemma  notet ; 
defluat  et  lento  splendescat  turbida  lino 

amphora  centeno  consule  facta  minor, 
continget  nox  quando  meis  tam  Candida  mensis  ?       5 

tarn  iusto  dabitur  quando  calere  mero  ? 
cum  te,  Flacce,  mihi  reddet  Cythereia  Cypros, 

luxuriae  fiet  tam  bona  causa  meae. 

XLVI 

QUANTA  tua  est  probitas  tanta  est  infantia  formae, 

Ceste  puer,  puero  castior  Hippolyto. 
te  secum  Diana  velit  doceatque  natare, 

te  Cybele  totum  mallet  habere  Phryge  ; l 
tu  Ganymedeo  poteras  succedere  lecto,  5 

sed  durus  domino  basia  sola  dares, 
felix,  quae  tenerum  vexabit  sponsa  maritum 

et  quae  te  faciet  prima  puella  virum  ! 

XLVII 

PARS  maxillarum  tonsa  est  tibi,  pars  tibi  rasa  est, 
pars  vulsa  est.     unum  quis  putet  esse  caput  ? 

1  Phryge   Brodaeus,   phryga    Codd.       Housman    suggests 
molli  mallet  habere  Phryge. 

1  cf.  xiv.  ciii.  and  civ. 
34 


BOOK    VIII.  XLV-XLVII 

XLV 

TERENTIUS  PRISCUS  is  given  back  to  me,  Flaccus, 
from 'Etna's  shore:  this  day  let  a  milk-white  pearl 
mark !  and  let  the  wine-jar,  shrunken  through  a 
hundred  consulships,  be  outpoured,  and  its  dull- 
ness grow  bright,  slowly  strained  through  linen.1 
When  shall  a  night  so  fair  again  bless  my  board  ? 
When  shall  I  be  allowed  to  warm  with  wine  so  justly 
earned  ?  When  Cytherean  Cyprus  shall  give  thee, 
Flaccus,  back  to  me,  as  good  a  cause  shall  arise  for 
my  revelry. 

XLVI 

EVEN  as  thy  modesty  is  thy  childish  grace  of  form, 
boy  Cestus,  than  boy  Hippolytus2  more  chaste. 
Thee  would  Diana3  wish,  and  teach,  to  swim  with 
her,  thee,  not  unmanned,  would  Cybele  prefer  to  the 
Phrygian;4  thou  mightest  have  succeeded  to  the  bed 
of  Ganymede,5  but  in  thy  hardness  kisses  only 
wouldst  thou  have  given  thy  lord.  Happy  the  bride 
that  shall  provoke  her  youthful  spouse,  the  maid  that 
first  shall  make  of  thee  a  man  ! 


XLVII 

PART  of  your  jaws  are  clipped,  part  is  shaved,  part 
is  plucked  of  hairs.  Who  would  imagine  this  to  be 
a  single  head  ? 

*  Who  rejected  the  solicitation  of  his  stepmother  Phaedra. 
8  The  virgin  goddess  of  chastity. 

*  The  emasculated  Attis  :  cf.  v.  xli.  2. 
5  cf.  i.  vi.  1. 

35 
D  2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XLVIII 

NESCIT  cui  dederit  Tyriam  Crispinus  abollam, 

dum  mutat  cultus  induiturque  togam. 
quisquis  habes,  umeris  sua  munera  redde,  precamur : 

non  hoc  Crispinus  te  sed  abolla  rogat. 
non  quicumque  capit  saturatas  murice  vestes  5 

nee  nisi  deliciis  convenit  iste  color, 
si  te  praeda  iuvat  foedique  insania  lucri, 

qua  possis  melius  fallere,  sume  togam. 

XLIX 

FORMOSAM  sane  sed  caecus  diligit  Asper. 

plus  ergo,  ut  res  est,  quam  videt  Asper  amat. 


QUANTA  Gigantei  memoratur  mensa  triumphi 

quantaque  nox  superis  omnibus  ilia  fuit, 
qua  bonus  accubuit  genitor  cum  plebe  deorum 

et  licuit  Faunis  poscere  vina  lovem, 
tanta  tuas  celebrant,  Caesar,  convivia  laurus ;  5 

exhilarant  ipsos  gaudia  nostra  deos. 
vescitur  omnis  eques  tecum  populusque  patresque 

et  capit  ambrosias  cum  duce  Roma  dapes. 
grandia  pollicitus  quanto  maiora  dedisti ! 

promissa  est  nobis  sportula,  recta  data  est.  10 

1  A    well-known  fop  :  cf.   Cum  rerna  Canopi  \  Crwpinu#f 
Tyrias  humero  revocante  lacenias :  Juv.  i.  27. 

36 


BOOK     VIII.    XLVHI-L 

XLVIII 

CRISPINUS  l  does  not  know  to  whom  he  gave  his 
Tyrian  cloak  while  he  was  changing  his  dress  and 
putting  on  his  toga.  Whoever  you  are  who  have  it, 
restore  to  his  shoulders  their  own  endowment,  we 
beg  you  :  Crispinus  does  not  ask  this  of  you,  but  the 
cloak  does.  Not  everyone  sets  off  a  robe  steeped 
in  purple :  only  daintiness  that  colour  suits.  If 
looting  attract  you,  and  a  mad  rage  for  disgraceful 
gain,  to  escape  notice  the  better,  select  a  toga  ! 2 

XLIX 

ASPER  loves  a  woman  who  is  undoubtedly  lovely, 
but  he  is  blind ;  so  Asper,  as  the  fact  is,  loves  more 
than  he  sees.3 


GREAT  as  was  the  storied  feast  for  triumph  over 
the  Giants,  and  great  as  was  to  all  the  High  gods 
that  night  on  which  the  good  Sire  reclined  at  table 
with  the  common  crowd  of  gods,  and  Fauns  had 
licence  to  call  on  Jove  for  wine ;  so  great  a  banquet, 
Caesar,  celebrates  thy  laurels  won :  our  joys  make 
glad  the  very  gods  themselves.  Every  knight  feasts 
along  with  thee,  the  people  too,  and  the  Fathers, 
and  Rome  together  with  her  Chief  partakes  am- 
brosial fare.  Large  things  didst  thou  promise  :  how 
much  greater  hast  thou  given  !  A  dole  was  promised 
us,  a  banquet  has  been  given. 


As  being  universal  wear. 
cf.  v.  xv. 


37 


i  THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

LI 

Quis  labor  in  phiala  ?  docti  Myos  anne  Myronos  ? 

Mentoris  haec  mantis  est  an,  Polyclite,  tua  ? 
livescit  nulla  caligine  fusca  nee  odit 

exploratores,  nubila  massa,  focos. 
vera  minus  flavo  radiant  electra  metallo  5 

et  niveum  felix  pustula  vincit  ebur. 
materiae  non  cedit  opus :  sic  alligat  orbem, 

plurima  cum  tola  lampade  luna  nitet. 
stat  caper  Aeolio  Thebani  vellere  Phrixi 

cultus  :  ab  hoc  mallet  vecta  fuisse  soror  ;  10 

hunc  nee  Cinyphius  tonsor  violaverit  et  tu 

ipse  tua  pasci  vite,  Lyaee,  velis. 
terga  premit  pecudis  geminis  Amor  aureus  alis  ; 

Palladius  tenero  lotos  ab  ore  sonat : 
sic  Methymnaeo  gavisus  Arione  delphin  15 

languida  non  taciturn  per  freta  vexit  onus, 
imbuat  egregium  digno  mihi  nectare  munus 

non  grege  de  domini  sed  tua,  Ceste,  manus ; 
Ceste,  decus  mensae,  misce  Setina :  videtur 

ipse  puer  nobis,  ipse  sitire  caper.  20 

det  numerum  cyathis  Istanti :  littera  Rufi  : 

'auctor  enim  tanti  muneris  ille  mihi : 

1  Istanti  Munro,  instanti  0,  instantis  y. 

1  All  Greek  artists  of  past  days,  renowned  for  chasing  or 
sculpture. 

2  The,  golden  fleece  of   the  ram   that   bore  Phryxus  and 
Helle  over  the  sea  :  cf.  vm.  xxviii.  20.        3  cf.  vn.  xcv.  13. 

38 


BOOK   VIII.  LI 

LI 

WHOSE  labour  is  in  the  bowl  ?  was  it  of  artist 
Mys  or  of  Myron  ?  Is  this  Mentor's  hand,  or,  Poly- 
clitus,  thine  ? 1  No  darkness  gives  it  a  dull  leaden 
hue,  nor  is  it  a  cloudy  mass  that  shrinks  from  as- 
saying fires.  True  amber  is  less  radiant  than  its 
yellow  ore,  and  the  fine  frosted  silver  surpasses  snow- 
white  ivory.  The  workmanship  yields  not  to  the 
material :  even  so  the  moon  rounds  her  orb  when 
she  shines  in  fullness  with  all  her  light.  There 
stands  a  he-goat  prankt  in  the  Aeolian  fleece  of 
Theban  Phryxus 2 ;  by  such  his  sister  would  more 
gladly  have  been  borne ;  such  a  goat  no  Cinyphian 
barber 3  would  deform,  and  thou  thyself,  Lyaeus, 
wouldst  consent  to  his  cropping  thine  own  vine.4  A 
Love  in  gold,  two-winged,  loads  the  back  of  the  beast; 
the  pipe  of  Pallas  sounds  from  his  tender  lips ;  in 
such  wise  the  dolphin,  blithe  with  the  burden  of 
Methymnaean  Arion,5  bore  him,  no  unmelodious 
freight,  o'er  tranquil  seas.  Let  no  hand  from  the 
master's  crowd  of  slaves,  only  thy  hand,  Cestus, 
first  fill  this  peerless  gift  for  me  with  fitting  nectar ; 
Cestus,  the  banquet's  pride,  mix  thou  the  Setine  : 
the  very  boy,  the  very  goat,  methinks,  is  athirst.  Let 
the  letters  of  Istantius  Rufus' 6  name  assign  their 
number  to  our  measures  of  wine,7  for  he  was  the 
source  to  me  of  so  proud  a  gift.  If  Telethusa  come, 

4  Juv.  alludes  to  this  :  i.  76  (stantem  extra  pocula  caprum). 

5  A  celebrated  harpist,  who,   to  escape  the  crew  of  the 
vessel  carrying  him  to  Corinth  with  his  wealth,  leaped,  it  is 
said,  into  the  sea  after  playing  a  last  time  on  his  harp  :  cf. 
Herod,  i.  23,  24. 

8  A  friend  of  M. :  cf.  vui.  Ixxiii.  1. 

7  As  to  this  practice,  cf.  ix.  xciii.  8  ;  xi.  xxxvi.  8. 

39 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

si  Telethusa  venit  promissaque  gaudia  portat, 

servabor  dominae,  Rufe,  triente  tuo  ; 
si  dubia  est,  septunce  trahar ;  si  fallit  amantem,      25 

ut  iugulem  curas,  nomen  utrumque  bibam. 

LII 

TONSOREM  puerum  sed  arte  talem 

qualis  nee  Thalamus  fuit  Neronis, 

Drusorum  cui  contigere  barbae, 

aequandas  semel  ad  genas  rogatus 

Rufo,  Caediciane,  commodavi.  5 

dum  iussus  repetit  pilos  eosdem, 

censura  speculi  manum  regente, 

expingitque  cutem  facitque  longam 

detonsis  epaphaeresin  capillis, 

barbatus  mihi  tonsor  est  reversus.  10 

LIII 

FORMOSISSIMA  quae  fuere  vel  sunt, 
sed  vilissima  quae  fuere  vel  sunt, 
o  quam  te  fieri,  Catulla,  vellem 
formosam  minus  aut  magis  pudicam  ! 

LIV 

MAGNA  licet  totiens  tribuas,  maiora  daturus 
dona,  ducum  victor,  victor  et  ipse  tui, 

diligeris  populo  non  propter  praemia,  Caesar, 
te  propter  populus  praemia,  Caesar,  amat. 

1  cf.  i.  cvi. 

2  M.  intends  to  drink  to  the  vocative,  i.e.  Rufe,  Istanti,  etc. 
s  Probably  the  Emperors  Claudius  and  Nero,  who  bore  this 

name  before  they  became  Emperors. 
40 


BOOK    VIII.  LI-LIV 

and  bring  her  promised  joys,  I  will  keep  myself  for 
my  mistress,  Rufus,  by  drinking  your  four  measures ; l 
if  she  be  doubtful,  I  shall  while  away  the  time  by 
seven ;  if  she  fail  her  lover,  then,  to  throttle  care,  I 
will  drink  both  your  names.2 


LII 

A  BARBER,  young,  but  such  an  artist  as  not  even 
was  Nero's  Thalamus,  to  whom  fell  the  beards  of  the 
Drusi,3  I  lent,  on  his  request,  Caedicianus,  to  Rufus 
to  smooth  his  cheeks  once.  While  at  command  he 
was  going  over  the  same  hairs,  guiding  his  hand  by 
the  judgment  of  the  mirror,  and  smoothing  the 
skin,  and  making  a  second  thorough  clip  of  the 
close-cut  hair,  my  barber  returned  to  me  with  a 
beard.4 

LIII 

MOST  beautiful  of  all  women  who  have  been  or 
are,  but  vilest  of  all  who  have  been  or  are,5  oh,  how  I 
could  wish,  Catulla,  you  could  become  less  beautiful 
or  more  pure ! 

LIV 

ALBEIT  thou  givest  so  oft  great  gifts,  and  shalt 
give  greater,  O  thou  victor  over  Captains  and  victor 
withal  over  thyself,6  thou  art  loved  by  the  people, 
Caesar,  not  because  of  thy  boons;  'tis  because  of 
thee,  Caesar,  the  people  loves  thy  boons. 

4  c/.  vu.  Ixxxiii. 

5  An  echo  of  the  style  of  Catullus  :  cf.  xxi.  2  and  xxiv.  2. 

6  i.e.  whose  virtues  (or  bounties)  increase  day  by  day. 

41 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LV 

AUDITOR  quantum  Massyla  per  avia  murmur, 

innumero  quotiens  silva  leone  furit, 
pallidus  attonitos  ad  Poena  mapalia  pastor 

cum  revocat  tauros  et  sine  mente  pecus, 
tantus  in  Ausonia  fremuit  modo  terror  harena.  5 

quis  non  esse  gregem  crederet  ?  unus  erat ; 
sed  cuius  tremerent  ipsi  quoque  iura  leones, 

cui  diadema  daret  marmore  picta  Nomas. 
o  quantum  per  colla  decus,  quern  sparsit  honorem 

aurea  lunatae,  cum  stetit,  umbra  iubae  !  10 

grandia  quam  decuit  latum  venabula  pectus 

quantaque  de  magna  gaudia  morte  tulit ! 
unde  tuis,  Libye,  tarn  felix  gloria  silvis  ? 

a  Cybeles  numquid  venerat  ille  iugo  ? 
an  magis  Herculeo,  Germanice,  misit  ab  astro          15 

hanc  tibi  vel  frater  vel  pater  ipse  feram  ? 

LVI 

TEMPORIBUS  nostris  aetas  cum  cedat  avorum 

creverit  et  maior  cum  duce  Roma  suo, 
ingenium  sacri  miraris  desse  Maronis 

nee  quemquam  tanta  bella  sonare  tuba, 
sint  Maecenates,  non  derunt,  Flacce,  Marones  5 

Vergiliumque  tibi  vel  tua  rura  dabunt. 
iugera  perdiderat  miserae  vicina  Cremonae 

flebat  et  abductas  Tityrus  aeger  oves : 
risit  Tuscus  eques  paupertatemque  malignam 

reppulit  et  celeri  iussit  abire  fuga.  10 

1  i.e.  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor. 
*  A  yoke  of  lions  was  the  sign  of  Cybele. 


BOOK    VIII.  LV-LVI 

LV 

LOUD  as  is  heard  the  roar  through  M  assy lian  wilds, 
oft  as  the  woodland  riots  with  countless  lion-hordes, 
what  time  the  pale  shepherd  recalls  to  his  Punic 
stead  the  startled  bulls  and  flock  dismayed,  so  great 
a  terror  roared  but  now  on  Ausonia's  sand.  Who 
but  would  deem  it  a  herd  ?  'Twas  a  single  beast,  but 
one  whose  laws  even  the  very  lions  would  tremble  at, 
to  whom  marble-dight  Numidia  would  assign  a  crown. 
Oh,  what  glory,  what  dignity  did  not  the  tawny 
cloud  of  his  curved  mane,  when  it  stood  erect,  shed 
upon  his  neck !  How  that  broad  breast  became 
mighty  spears,  and  how  great  joy  he  won  by  his 
noble  death ! l  Whence  came,  Libya,  so  blest  an 
honour  to  thy  woods  ?  Had  he  come  down  from 
Cybele's  yoke?2  Or  rather,  did  thy  brother,  Ger- 
manicus,  or  thy  sire  himself,  send  down  this  beast 
from  Hercules'  star?3 

LVI 

ALTHOUGH  our  grandsires'  age  yields  to  our  own 
times,  and  Rome  has  waxed  greater  in  company 
with  her  chief,  you  wonder  divine  Maro's  genius 
is  seen  no  more,  and  that  no  man  with  such  a 
trump  as  his  blows  loud  of  war.  Let  there  be 
many  a  Maecenas,  many  a  Maro,  Flaccus,  will  not 
fail,  and  even  your  fields  will  give  you  a  Virgil. 
Tityrus,4  sick  at  heart,  had  lost  his  lands  nigh 
ill-starred  Cremona,  and  was  weeping  for  his  plun- 
dered sheep :  the  Tuscan  knight  smiled,  and  dis- 
pelled malignant  poverty,  and  bade  it  go  in  hurried 

3  Had  Titus  or  Vespasian,  now  gods,  sent  down  the 
Nemean  lion  slain  by  Hercules  from  the  constellation  Leo  ? 
cf.  iv.  Ivii.  5.  *  Representing  Virgil  in  the  Bucolics. 

43 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

"  Accipe  divitias  et  vatum  maximus  esto  ; 

tu  licet  et  nostrum"  dixit  "  Alexin  ames." 
adstabat  domini  mensis  pulcherrimus  ille 

marmorea  fundens  nigra  Falerna  manu, 
et  libata  dabat  roseis  carchesia  labris  15 

quae  poterant  ipsum  sollicitare  lovem. 
excidit  attonito  pinguis  Galatea  poetae, 

Thestylis  et  rubras  messibus  usta  genas ; 
protinus  "  Italiam  "  concepit  et  "  Arma  virumque," 

qui  modo  vix  Culicem  fleverat  ore  rudi.  20 

quid  Varies  Marsosque  loquar  ditataque  vatum 

nomina,  magnus  erit  quos  numerare  labor? 
ergo  ego  Vergilius,  si  munera  Maecenatis 

des  mihi  ?    Vergilius  non  ero,  Marsus  ero. 

LVII 

TRES  habuit  dentes,  pariter  quos  expuit  omnes, 
ad  tumulum  Picens  dum  sedet  ipse  suum ; 

collegitque  sinu  fragmenta  novissima  laxi 
oris  et  adgesta  contumulavit  humo. 

ossa  licet  quondam  defuncti  non  legat  heres :  5 

hoc  sibi  iam  Picens  praestitit  officium. 

LVIII 

CUM  tibi  tarn  crassae  sint,  Artemidore,  lacernae. 
possim  te  Sagarim  iure  vocare  meo. 

LIX 

ASPICIS  hunc  uno  contentum  lumine,  cuius 
lippa  sub  adtrita  fronte  lacuna  patet  ? 


1  rf.  v.  xvi.  12. 

2  Characters  in  the  Bucolics. 


44 


BOOK   VIII.  LVI-LIX 

flight.  "  Take  wealth,  and  be  greatest  of  bards : 
you,"  he  said,  "may  love  even  my  Alexis."1  That 
boy  most  fair  was  standing  by  his  master's  board, 
pouring  the  dark  Falernian  with  hand  marble-fair, 
and  offered  the  beaker  tasted  first  by  his  rosy  lips, 
lips  that  might  tempt  Jove  himself.  Plump  Galatea  2 
fell  away  from  the  inspired  bard  and  Thestylis  2  with 
her  cheeks  burnt  red  by  harvest;  at  once  "Italy" 
he  conceived,  and  "  Arms  and  the  man,"  3  he  who 
but  now  in  song  untrained  had  with  effort  wept  for 
a  gnat.4  Why  should  I  speak  of  Variuses  and  Mar- 
suses,  and  tell  the  names  of  poets  enriched,  whom 
'twere  a  long  task  to  number  ?  Shall  I  then  be  a 
Virgil  if  you  give  me  the  gifts  of  a  Maecenas  ?  I 
shall  not  be  a  Virgil,  a  Marsus5  shall  I  be. 

LVII 

PICENS  had  three  teeth,  all  of  which  he  spat  out 
at  once  as  he  was  sitting  by  his  own  tomb ;  and  he 
gathered  up  in  his  lap  the  latest  fragments  of  his 
loosened  jaws,  and  entombed  them  in  piled-up  earth. 
His  heir  some  day  need  not  gather  up  the  dead 
man's  bones :  that  office  Picens  has  already  per- 
formed for  himself. 

LVIII 

SEEING  that  your  cloaks,  Artemidorus,  are -so  thick, 
I  might  rightly  call  you  Sagaris.6 

LIX 

You  see  this  fellow  who  puts  up  with  one  eye, 
under  whose  shameless  brow  a  sightless  socket  gapes  ? 

3  Italy  =  Georgics,  "arms,  etc."  =  Aeneid. 

4  Culex,  an  early  poem.  5  cf.  iv.  xxix.  8. 

8  A  play  on  words.     Sagum  was  a  thick  military  cloak. 

45 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

ne  contemne  caput,  nihil  est  furacius  illo ; 

non  fuit  Autolyci  tarn  piperata  manus. 
hunc  tu  convivam  cautus  servare  memento  :  5 

tune  furit  atque  oculo  luscus  utroque  videt. 
pocula  solliciti  perdunt  ligulasque  ministri 

et  latet  in  tepido  plurima  mappa  sinu ; 
lapsa  nee  a  cubito  subducere  pallia  nescit 

et  tectus  laenis  saepe  duabus  abit ;  10 

nee  dormitantem  vernam  fraudare  lucerna 

erubuit  fallax,  ardeat  ilia  licet, 
si  nihil  invasit,  puerum  tune  arte  dolosa 

circuit  et  soleas  subripit  ipse  suas. 

LX 

SUMMA  Palatini  poteras  aequare  Colossi, 
si  fieres  brevior,  Claudia,  sesquipede. 

LXI 

LIVET  Charinus,  rumpitur,  furit,  plorat 

et  quaerit  altos  unde  pendeat  ramos  : 

non  iam  quod  orbe  cantor  et  legor  toto, 

nee  umbilicis  quod  decorus  et  cedro 

spargor  per  omnes  Roma  quas  tenet  gentes,       5 

sed  quod  sub  urbe  rus  habemus  aestivum 

vehimurque  mulis  non  ut  ante  conductis. 

quid  inprecabor,  o  Severe,  liventi  ? 

hoc  opto  :  mulas  habeat  et  suburbanum. 

1  The  son  of  Mercury,  patron  of  thieves,  and  himself  the 
typical  thief. 

46 


BOOK    VIII.  LIX-LXI 

Don't  despise  the  man,  he  is  thievishness  itself;  Auto- 
lycus' l  hand  was  not  so  sharp.  When  he  is  your 
guest  remember  to  watch  him  carefully  :  then  he 
runs  amok  and,  though  one-eyed,  sees  with  either. 
Cups  and  dessert-spoons  the  anxious  servants  lose, 
and  there  lurks  many  a  napkin  in  his  warm  bosom  ; 
nor  is  he  ignorant  how  to  withdraw  by  stealth  even 
the  mantle  slipt  from  your  elbow,  and  often  he  goes 
away  clad  in  two  cloaks ;  and  the  cunning  thief 
does  not  blush  to  rob  a  sleeping  home-born  slave  of 
his  lamp,  although  it  is  alight.  If  he  has  seized 
nothing,  then  with  crafty  skill  he  circumvents  his 
slave  and  filches  his  very  own  slippers ! 


LX 

You  might  reach  to  the  top  of  the  Palatine 
Colossus2  if  you,  Claudia,  were  to  grow  shorter  by 
a  foot  and  a  half. 

LXI 

CHARINUS  is  green  with  envy,  is  bursting,  raging, 
weeping,  and  is  looking  out  for  high  boughs  to  hang 
himself  from ;  not  now  because  I  am  acclaimed  and 
read  through  the  whole  world,  nor  because,  smart 
with  bosses  and  cedar  oil,  I  am  spread  abroad  over 
all  the  nations  Rome  sways,  but  because  I  have  in 
the  suburbs  a  summer  country  house,  and  am  drawn 
by  mules  no  longer,  as  before,  hired.  What  curse 
shall  I  utter,  Severus,  on  his  green  looks  ?  I  wish 
him  this  :  let  him  possess  mules  and  a  suburban 
property !  3 

2  ff.  Lib.  Sped.  ii.  1. 

3  With  all  their  worries. 

47 


SCRIBIT  in  aversa  Picens  epigrammata  charta, 
et  dolet  averse  quod  facit  ilia  deo. 

LXIII 

THESTYLON  Aulus  amat  sed  nee  minus  ardet  Alexin, 
forsitan  et  nostrum  nunc  Hyacinthon  amat. 

i  nunc  et  dubita  vates  an  diligat  ipsos, 
delicias  vatum  cum  meus  Aulus  amet. 

LXIV 

UT  poscas,  Clyte,  munus  exigasque, 

uno  nasceris  octiens  in  anno 

et  solas,  puto,  tresve  quattuorve 

non  natalicias  habes  Kalendas. 

sit  vultus  tibi  levior  licebit  5 

tritis  litoris  ai'idi  lapillis, 

sit  moro  coma  nigrior  caduco, 

vincas  mollitia  tremente  plumas 

aut  massam  modo  lactis  alligati, 

et  talis  tumor  excitet  papillas  ]  0 

qualis  cruda  viro  puella  servat, 

tu  nobis,  Cly  te,  Jam-  senex  videris  : 

tarn  multos  quis  enim  fuisse  credat 

natalis  Priamive  Nestorisve  ? 

sit  tandem  pudor  et  modus  rapinis.  15 

quod  si  ludis  adhuc  semelque  nasci 

uno  iam  tibi  non  sat  est  in  anno, 

natum  te,  Clyte,  nee  semel  putabo. 

1  Phoebus,  who  inspires  poets. 


BOOK    VIII.  LXII-LXIV 

LXII 

PICENS  writes  epigrams  on  the  backside  of  his 
paper,  and  complains  that  when  he  does  so  the  god  ] 
turns  his. 

LXIII 

AULUS  is  fond  of  Thestylus,  and  has  no  less  warmth 
for  Alexis ;  perhaps  now  he  is  fond  of  my  Hya- 
cinthus  too.  Go,  now  !  doubt  after  that  whether  my 
friend  Aulus  loves  the  poets  themselves,  seeing  that 
he  loves  poets'  favourites. 

LXIV 

THAT  you  may  demand,  Clytus,  and  exact  a  present, 
you  are  born  eight  times  in  a  single  year,  and  only 
three  or  four  Kalends,  I  think,  you  do  not  keep  as 
birthdays.  Smoother  though  your  face  be  than  the 
dry  beach's  wave-worn  pebbles,  blacker  your  hair 
than  a  mulberry  ripe  to  fall,  though  you  surpass 
feathers  in  fluttering  softness,  or  a  lump  of  newly 
curdled  milk,  and  though  such  a  rounded  fullness 
swells  a  breast  as  the  virgin  bride  keeps  for  her 
spouse,  yet  you  seem  to  us,  Clytus,  already  old ;  for 
who  would  believe  so  many  birthdays  were  Priam's 
or  Nestor's  ?  Let  there  be  at  length  some  decent 
limit  and  measure  to  your  rapine.  But  if  you  still 
play  with  us,  and  a  single  birth  in  one  year  is  now 
not  sufficient  for  you,  I  shall  regard  you,  Clytus, 
as  not  having  been  born  even  once.2 

2  "To  regard  a  person  as  not  born"  was  a  common  phrase 
to  express  that  the  person  alluded  to  was  a  nobody :  cf.  IV. 
Ixxxiii.  4  ;  x.  xxvii.  4  ;  Petr.  58. 

49 

VOL.   II.  E 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXV 

Hie  ubi  Fortunae  Reducis  fulgentia  late 

templa  nitent,  felix  area  nuper  erat : 
hie  stetit  Arctoi  formosus  pulvere  belli 

purpureum  fundens  Caesar  ab  ore  iubar : 
hie  lauru  redimita  comas  et  Candida  cultu  5 

Roma  salutavit  voce  manuque  ducem. 
grande  loci  meritum  testantur  et  altera  dona : 

stat  sacer  et  domitis  gentibus  arcus  ovat. 
hie  gemini  currus  numerant  elephanta  frequentem, 

sufficit  inmensis  aureus  ipse  iugis.  10 

haec  est  digna  tuis,  Germanice,  porta  triumphis  ; 

hos  aditus  urbem  Martis  habere  decet. 


LXVI 

AUGUSTO  pia  tura  victimasque 

pro  vestro  date  Silio,  Camenae. 

bis  senos  iubet  en  redire  fasces, 

nato  consule,  nobilique  virga 

vatis  Castaliam  domum  sonare  5 

rerum  prima  sal  us  et  una  Caesar. 

gaudenti  superest  adhuc  quod  optet, 

felix  purpura  tertiusque  consul. 

Pompeio  dederit  licet  senatus 

et  Caesar  genero  sacros  honores,  10 

quorum  pacificus  ter  ampliavit 

lanus  nomina,  Silius  frequentes 

mavult  sic  numerare  consulatus. 

1  A   temple   was   built  to   Fortuna   Redux  in  honour  of 
Domitian's  Sarmatian  campaign. 

2  The  temple  of  Fortuna  Redux  being  the  other. 

The  lictor,  escorting  the  consul  to  his  house,  struck  on 
the  door  with  his  staff:  Liv.  vi.  34. 

5° 


BOOK    VIII.  LXV-LXVI 

LXV 

HERE,  where  far-gleaming  shines  the  fane  of  For- 
tune that  gives  return/  was  of  late,  happy  in  its  lot, 
an  open  space  ;  here,  graced  by  the  dust  of  Northern 
war,  stood  Caesar,  shedding  from  his  face  effulgent 
light  ;  here,  her  locks  wreathed  with  bay,  and  white 
of  vesture,  Rome  with  voice  and  hand  greeted  her 
Chief.  A  second  gift,  too,2  attests  the  high  merit 
of  the  spot  :  a  consecrated  arch  staiids  in  triumph 
over  the  conquered  nations  ;  here  stand  two  chariots 
and  many  an  elephant  ;  he  himself  in  gold  is 
master  of  the  mighty  cars.  This  gate,  Germanicus, 
is  worthy  of  thy  triumphs  :  such  an  approach  it 
beseems  the  City  of  Mars  to  possess. 

LXVI 

To  Augustus  bring,  ye  Camenae,  pious  incense  and 
victims  on  behalf  of  your  Silius.  Lo  !  by  a  son's 
consulship  Caesar,  our  chief  and  only  ward,  bids  the 
twice  six  axes  return,  and  the  door  of  the  poet  sire 
resound  to  the  lictor's  noble  staff.3  Yet  this  re- 
mains for  his  joy  to  wish  for,  the  blessed  purple 
of  a  third  consul.4  Though  to  Pompeius  the  senate, 
to  his  son-in-law  5  Caesar,  gave  sacred  honours,  and 
peaceful  Janus  thrice  enrolled  their  names,6  yet 
thus  would  Silius  rather  reckon  repeated  consul- 
ships. 

*  M.  hopes  that  Silius'  second  son  (who,  however,  died 
shortly  afterwards)  may  become  consul,  three  consulships 
thus  falling  to  one  house.  The  father  was  consul  A.  D.  68  : 
vn.  Ixiii.  9. 

6  Agrippa,  who  married  Julia,  Augustus'  daughter. 

6  The  consular  Fasti  were  kept  in  the  Temple  of  Janus. 


E    2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXVII 

HORAS  quinque  puer  nondum  tibi  nuntiat,  et  tu 

iam  conviva  mihi,  Caeciliane,  venis, 
cum  modo  distulerint  raucae  vadimonia  quartae 

et  Floralicias  lasset  harena  feras. 
curre,  age,  et  inlotos  revoca,  Calliste,  ministros ;        5 

sternantur  lecti :  Caeciliane,  sede. 
caldam  poscis  aquam  :  nondum  mihi  frigida  venit ; 

alget  adhuc  nudo  clusa  culina  foco. 
mane  veni  potius ;  nam  cur  te  quinta  moretur  ? 

ut  iantes,  sero,  Caeciliane,  venis.  10 


LXVIII 

Qui  Corcyraei  vidit  pomaria  regis, 

rus,  Entelle,  tuae  praeferet  ille  domus. 
invida  purpureos  urat  ne  bruma  racemos 

et  gelidum  Bacchi  munera  frigus  edat, 
condita  perspicua  vivit  vindemia  gemma  5 

et  tegitur  felix  nee  tamen  uva  latet : 
femineum  lucet  sic  per  bombycina  corpus, 

calculus  in  nitida  sic  numeratur  aqua, 
quid  non  ingenio  voluit  natura  licere  ? 

autumnum  sterilis  ferre  iubetur  hiemps.  10 

1  cf.  iv.  viii.  2. 

2  i.e.  adjourned  the   court.     Vadimonia   were   bonds   re- 
quired of  the  parties  to  a  suit  to  ensure  their  appearance. 

52 


BOOK     VIII.    LXVIl-LXVIII 


LXVII 

THE  boy  does  not  yet  announce  to  you  the  fifth 
hour,  and  yet  you,  Caecilianus,  come  already  as  my 
guest,  although  the  fourth  hour,  hoarse  with  plead- 
ing,1 has  only  just  enlarged  the  bail-bonds,2  and  the 
arena  still  wearies  the  wild  beasts  at  Flora's  games.3 
Come,  run,  Callistus,  and  call  back  the  unwashed 
servants  ;  let  the  couches  be  spread  :  Caecilianus,  sit 
down.  You  ask  for  warm  water :  my  cold  has.  not 
yet  arrived ; 4  my  kitchen  is  closed  and  chill,  its  fire 
unlaid.  Come  rather  at  daybreak ;  for  why  should 
the  fifth  hour  keep  you  waiting?  For  a  breakfast 
you  come  late,  Caecilianus. 


LXVIII 

HE  who  has  seen  the  orchards  of  Corcyra's  king  5 
will  prefer,  Entellus,  the  country  youi?-  house  con- 
tains. That  jealous  winter  may  not  sear  the  purple 
clusters,  and  chill  frost  consume  the  gifts  of  Bacchus, 
your  vineyard  blooms  shut  in  transparent  glass,  and 
the  fortunate  grape  is  roofed  and  yet  unhid.  So 
shine  a  woman's  limbs  through  silk,  so  is  the  pebble 
counted  in  pellucid  water.  What  power  has  not 
Nature  wished  for  mind  ?  Barren  winter  is  bidden 
to  bear  autumn's  fruits.6 

3  Hares  and  goats  were  hunted  in  the  arena  at  the  Ludi 
Florales. 

4  M.  had  no  water  laid  on  to  his  house :  cf.  IX.  xix. 

5  Alcinous :  cf.  vu.  xlii.  6. 

6  cf.  a  similar  epigram,  viu.  xiv. 

53 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXIX 

MIRARIS  veteres,  Vacerra.  solos 
nee  laudas  nisi  mortuos  poetas. 
ignoscas  petimus,  Vacerra  :  tanti 
non  est,  ut  placeam  tibi,  perire. 

LXX 

QUANTA  quies  placidi  tantast  facundia  Nervae, 

sed  cohibet  vires  ingeniumque  pudor. 
cum  siccare  sacram  largo  Permessida  posset 

ore,  verecundam  maluit  esse  sitim, 
Pieriam  tenui  frontem  rediniire  corona 

contentus,  famae  nee  dare  vela  suae. 
sed  tamen  hunc  nostri  scit  temporis  esse  Tibullum, 

carmina  qui  docti  nota  Neronis  habet. 


LXXI 

QUATTUOR  argenti  libras  mihi  tempore  brumae 

misisti  ante  annos,  Postumiane,  decem  ; 
speranti  plures  (nam  stare  aut  crescere  debeiit 

inunera)  venerunt  plusve  minusve  duae ; 
tertius  et  quartus  multo  inferiora  tulerunt ; 

libra  fuit  quinto  Septiciana  quidem  ; 
besalem  ad  scutulam  sexto  pervenimus  anno ; 

post  hunc  in  cotula  rasa  selibra  data  est ; 


1  Afterwards  emperor.    His  poetical  ability  is  also  alluded 
to  in  ix.  xxvi. 

54 


BOOK   VIII.  LXIX-LXXI 

LXIX 

You  admire,  Vacerra,  the  ancients  alone,  and  praise 
none  but  dead  poets.  Your  pardon,  pray,  Vacerra : 
it  is  not  worth  my  while,  merely  to  please  you,  to 
die. 

LXX 

GREAT  as  is  the  restraint,  so  great  is  the  eloquence 
of  placid  Nerva,1  but  modesty  restrains  his  power 
and  genius.  Though  he  might  have  drained  sacred 
Permessis 2  in  full  draughts,  he  chose  to  slake  his 
thirst  with  diffidence,  content  to  wreathe  his  poet's 
brow  with  a  slender  crown,  and  to  leave  his  sail 
unspread  to  the  breeze  of  his  own  fame.  Yet  that 
he  is  the  Tibullus  of  our  time  each  man  knows  who 
keeps  in  mind  the  lays  of  learned  Nero.3 


LXXI 

FOUR  pounds  of  silver  plate  in  winter's  season  you 
sent  me,  Postumianus,  ten  years  ago.  While  I  hoped 
for  a  greater  weight — for  gifts  should  stand  fixed  or 
grow — there  arrived  two  pounds  more  or  less.  The 
third  and  the  fourth  year  brought  much  inferior 
presents :  in  the  fifth  was  one  pound,  Septicius' 4 
work  to  boot.  I  came  down  to  an  eight-ounce 
oblong  dish  in  the  sixth  year ;  the  next  was  given 
me  a  bare  half-pound  in  the  shape  of  a  small  cup. 

2  A  fountain  (also  called  Aganippe)  sacred  to  the  Muses, 
and  arising  in  Mt.  Helicon. 

3  Nero  is  said  to  have  called  Nerva  his  Tibullus. 
*  i.e.  inferior:  cf.  iv.  Ixxxviii.  3. 

55 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

octavus  ligulam  misit  sextante  minorern  ; 

nonus  acu  levius  vix  cocleare  tulit. 
quod  mittat  nobis  decumus  iam  non  habet  annus : 

quattuor  ad  libras,  Postumiane,  redi. 

LXXII 

NONDUM  murice  cultus  asperoque 

morsu  pumicis  aridi  politus 

Arcanum  properas  sequi,  libelle, 

quern  pulcherrima  iam  redire  Narbo, 

docti  Narbo  Paterna  Votieni,  5 

ad  leges  iubet  annuosque  fasces  : 

votis  quod  paribus  tibi  petendum  est, 

continget  locus  ille  et  hie  amicus. 

quam  vellem  fieri  meus  libellus  ! 

LXXIII 

ISTANTI,  quo  nec  sincerior  alter  habetur 

pectore  nec  nivea  simplicitate  prior, 
si  dare  vis  nostrae  vires  animosque  Thaliae 

et  victura  petis  carmina,  da  quod  amem. 
Cynthia  te  vatem  fecit,  lascive  Properti ;  5 

ingenium  Galli  pulchra  Lycoris  erat ; 
fama  est  arguti  Nemesis  formosa  Tibulli ; 

Lesbia  dictav'it,  docte  Catulle,  tibi : 
non  me  Paeligni  nec  spernet  Mantua  vatem, 

si  qua  Corinna  mihi,  si  quis  Alexis  erit.  10 

1  The  full  name  appears  to  ha ve  been  Colonia  Julia  Paterna 
Narbo  Marcia,  .now  Narbonne.  It  was  the  capital  of  Gallia 
Narbonensis. 

56 


BOOK    VIII.  LXXI-LXXIII 

gf 

The  eighth  sent  me  a  dessert-spoon  less  than  two 
ounces  weight :  the  ninth  produced — with  difficulty 
— -a  snail -pick  lighter  than  a  needle.  The  tenth 
year  now  has  nothing  to  send  me  :  to  your  four 
pounds,  Postumianus,  return  ' 


LXXII 

THOUGH  you  are  not  yet  smart  with  purple  and 
smoothed  by  the  rough  bite  of  dry  pumice,  you 
haste,  little  book,  to  follow  Arcanus,  whom  most 
lovely  Narbo — Narbo  Paterna x  of  the  learned  Vo- 
tienus — now  bids  return  to  declare  the  laws  and  to 
yearly  office.  'Twill  be  your  lot — to  be  sued  for  with 
equal  prayers — to  see  that  spot  and  to  have  this 
friend.  How  I  wish  I  could  become  my  own  little 
book  ' 

LXXIII 

IsTANTius,2  than  whom  none  other  is  held  more 
true  of  heart,  before  whom  is  none  in  pure  sin- 
cerity, if  thou  wouldst  give  strength  and  spirit  to 
my  Muse,  and  lookest  for  poems  that  shall  live,  give 
me  something  to  love.  'Twas  Cynthia  made  thee  a 
poet,  wanton  Propertius ;  of  Gallus  the.  inspiration 
was  fair  Lycoris  ;  tuneful  Tibullus'  renown  sprang 
from  lovely  Nemesis ;  Lesbia  prompted  thee,  learned 
Catullus.  The  Pelignians 3  will  not  spurn  me,  nor 
Mantua,4  as  a  bard,  if  some  Corinna,  if  some  Alexis 
be  my  own. 

2  Istantius  Rufus :  cf.  vin.  li.  '21. 

3  Counti-ymen  of  Ovid. 

4  Birthplace  of  Virgil. 

57 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXIV 

OPLOMACHUS  nunc  es,  fueras  opthalmicus  ante, 
fecisti  medicus  quod  facis  oplomachus. 

LXXV 

DUM  repetit  sera  conductos  nocte  penates 

Lingonus  a  Tecta  Flaminiaque  recens, 
expulit  offenso  vitiatum  pollice  talum 

et  iacuit  toto  corpore  fusus  humi. 
quid  faceret  Gallus,  qua  se  ratione  moveret?  5 

ingenti  domino  servulus  unus  erat, 
tarn  macer  ut  minimam  posset  vix  ferre  lucernam  : 

succurrit  misero  casus  opemque  tulit. 
quattuor  inscripti  portabant  vile  cadaver, 

accipit  infelix  qualia  mille  rogus ;  10 

hos  comes  invalidus  summissa  voce  precatur, 

ut  quocumque  velint  corpus  inane  ferant : 
permutatur  onus  stipataque  tollitur  alte 

grandis  in  angusta  sarcina  sandapila. 
hie  raihi  de  multis  unus,  Lucane,  videtur  15 

cui  merito  dici  "mortue  Galle  "  potest. 

LXXVI 

"  Die  verum  mihi,  Marce,  die  amabo  ; 
nil  est  quod  magis  audiam  libenter." 
sic  et  cum  recitas  tuos  libellos, 
et  causam  quotiens  agis  clientis, 

1  cf.  similar  epigrams,  i.  xxx.  and  xlvii. 
*  cf.  in.  v.  5. 


BOOK    VIII.  LXXIV-LXXVI 

LXXIV 

You  are  now  a  gladiator:  you  were  an  eye-special- 
ist before.  You  did  as  doctor  what  you  do  now  as 
gladiator.1 

LXXV 

WHILE  late  at  night  a  Lingonian — just  returning 
from  the  Covered2  and  Flaminian  Ways — was  making 
for  his  hired  lodging,  catching  his  big  toe,  he  put 
out  his  ankle,  and  lay  upset  all  his  length  on  the 
ground.  What  should  the  Gaul  do  ?  how  could  he 
move  ?  The  huge  master  had  a  single  tiny  slave,  so 
thin  that  he  could  barely  carry  the  smallest  lantern  : 
chance  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  wretched  man, 
and  brought  aid.  Four  branded  slaves  were  carrying 
a  common  corpse — the  pauper's  burying-gi'ound  re- 
ceives a  thousand  such — these  slaves  the  weak  at- 
tendant besought  in  a  low  voice  to  shift  the  lifeless 
body  wherever  they  wished.  The  load  is  changed 
and  the  cargo  is  lifted  high  and  crammed  in — a  huge 
cargo  in  a  narrow  bier.  This  individual  seems  to 
me,  Lucanus,  to  be  the  one  of  many  to  whom  can 
justly  be  said,  "O  dead  Gaul."  3 

LXXVI 

"  TELL  me  the  truth,  Marcus,  tell  me,  please  : 
there  is  nothing  I  would  more  gladly  hear."  Such, 
Gallicus,  both  when  you  recite  your  poems  and 
whenever  you  plead  a  client's  cause  is  your  prayer 

3  "  Mortue  Galle "  was  the  refrain  of  the  verses  with 
which  the  retiarins  (net-caster)  used  to  provoke  his  oppo- 
nent, the  mirmillo  (who  wore  a  Gaulish  helmet). 

59 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

oras,  Galilee,  me  rogasque  semper.  5 

durum  est  me  tibi  quod  petis  negare. 
vero  verius  ergo  quid  sit  audi : 
verum,  Gallice,  non  libenter  audis. 

LXXVII 

LIBER,  amicorum  dulcissima  cura  tuorum, 

Liber,  in  aeterna  vivere  digne  rosa, 
si  sapis,  Assyrio  semper  tibi  crinis  amomo 

splendeat  et  cingaiit  florea  serta  caput ; 
Candida  nigrescant  vetulo  crystalla  Falerno  5 

et  caleat  blando  mollis  amore  torus, 
qui  sic  vel  medio  finitus  vixit  in  aevo, 

longior  huic  facta  est  quam  data  vita  fuit. 

LXXVI1I 

Quos  cuperet  Phlegraea  suos  victoria  ludos, 

Indica  quos  cuperet  pompa,  Lyaee,  tuos, 
fecit  Hyperborei  celebrator  Stella  triumphi, 

o  pudor  !  o  pietas  !  et  putat  esse  parum. 
non  illi  satis  est  turbato  sordidus  auro  5 

Hermus  et  Hesperio  qui  sonat  orbe  Tagus. 
omnis  habet  sua  dona  dies :  nee  linea  dives 

cessat  et  in  populum  multa  rapina  cadit ; 
nunc  veniunt  subitis  lasciva  nomismata  nimbis, 

nunc  dat  spectatas  tessera  larga  feras,  10 

nunc  implere  sinus  securos  gaudet  et  absens 

sortitur  dominos,  ne  laceretur,  avis. 


1  ff.  a  very  similar  epigram,  v.  Ixiii. 

2  For  a  similar  sentiment,  cf.  x.  xxiii.  7,  8. 

3  The  victory  of  the  gods  over  the  giants  in  the  Phlegraean 
Plains  in  Campania  :  cf.  vin.  1.  1. 

60 


BOOK    VIII.  LXXVI-I.XXVIH 

and  request  to  me  continually.  It  is  hard  for  me 
to  refuse  what  you  want.  Hear,  then,  what  is  truer 
than  truth ;  truth,  Gallicus,  you  do  not  willingly 
hear.1 

LXXVII 

LIBER,  of  thy  friends  the  care  most  sweet,  Liber, 
worthy  to  live  amid  deathless  roses,  if  thou  art  wise, 
let  thy  locks  glisten  alway  with  Assyrian  balm  and 
chaplets  of  flowers  encircle  thy  head  ;  let  thy  clear 
crystal  darken  with  old  Falernian,  and  thy  soft  couch 
warm  with  love's  endearments.  Whoever  has  so 
lived,  to  him,  even  did  the  end  come  in  middle  age, 
life  has  been  made  longer  than  was  appointed.2 


LXXVIII 

SPORTS  which  a  Phlegraean  victory 3  might  have 
craved  for  its  own,  which  thy  Indian  pageant,  Lyaeus,4 
might  have  craved  to  be  thine,  Stella,  honouring  the 
Northern  triumph,  has  given;  and  yet — what  modesty 
is  his,  what  loyalty  ! — he  holds  them  too  small.  Not 
for  him  suffices  the  wealth  of  Hermus,  dark  with 
tumbled  gold,  and  of  Tagus  echoing  in  the  Western 
world.  Each  day  provides  its  own  gifts ;  the  cord's 
rich  burden  5  fails  not,  and  full-laden  spoil  falls  upon 
the  people  ;  now  come  in  sudden  showers  sportive 
tokens;6  now  the  bounteous  ticket  assigns  the  beasts 
of  the  arena ;  now  the  bird  is  glad  to  fill  a  lap  that 
gives  it  safety,  and — that  it  be  not  torn  asunder — 

4  cf.  vni.  xxvi.  7. 

5  A  cord  hung  with  gifts  for  the  populace. 

6  Entitling  the  holder  to  receive  presents. 

6l 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

quid  numerem  currus  ter  denaque  praemia  palmae, 
quae  dare  non  semper  consul  uterque  solet  ? 

omnia  sed,  Caesar,  tanto  superantur  honore,  15 

quod  spectatorem  te  tua  laurus  habet. 

LXXIX 

OMNIS  aut  vetulas  habes  arnicas 

aut  turpis  vetulisque  foediores. 

has  ducis  comites  trahisque  tecum 

per  convivia  porticus  theatra. 

sic  formosa,  Fabulla,  sic  puella  es.  5 

LXXX 

SANCTORUM  nobis  miracula  reddis  avorum 

nee  pateris,  Caesar,  saecula  cana  mori, 
cum  veteres  Latiae  ritus  renovantur  harenae 

et  pugnat  virtus  simpliciore  manu. 
sic  priscis  servatur  honos  te  praeside  templis  5 

et  casa  tarn  culto  sub  love  numen  habet ; 
sic  nova  dum  condis,  revocas,  Auguste,  priora : 

debentur  quae  sunt  quaeque  fuere  tibi. 

1  Birds  are,  instead  of  being  scrambled  for  and  so  torn  to 
pieces,  assigned  by  lot.  Statius  (Syh:  I.  vi.  75  stq. )  describes 
one  of  Domitian's  Saturnalian  shows,  where  huge  clouds  of 
birds  descend  " mbito  volatu"  among  the  people,  birds  sup- 
posed by  Verrall  (Lit.  Essays,  82)  to  have  been  toy  ones  with 
tickets  for  presents  attached. 

62 


BOOK    VIII.  Lxxvm-Lxxx 

wins,  while  apart,  by  lot  its  owner.1  Why  should  I 
count  the  chariots,  and  victory's  thrice  ten  prizes, 
which  both  consuls  are  not  always  wont  to  give  ?  2 
But  all,  Caesar,  is  surpassed  by  this  great  glory,  that 
thy  triumph  hath  thee  a  spectator. 


LXXIX 

ALL  the  female  friends  you  have  are  either  old 
crones  or  ugly,  and  fouler  than  old  crones.  These,  as 
your  companions,  you  conduct  and  drag  about  with 
you  through  parties,  colonnades,  theatres.  In  this 
way,  Fabulla,  you  are  lovely,  in  this  way  young. 


LXXX 

THOU  restorest  to  us,  Caesar,  the  wonders  of  our 
honoured  grandsires'  age,  and  lettest  not  the  times 
of  old  die,  now  that  the  ancient  fashions  of  the 
Latin  arena  are  renewed  and  valour  fights  with 
more  natural  hand.3  So  also  for  the  old-world  fanes 
is  kept  their  honour  while  thou  art  Governor,  and 
the  Cot4  under  a  Jove  so  worshipped  keeps  its 
sanctity  ;  5  so,  while  thou  dost  found  the  new,  thou 
bringest  back,  Augustus,  the  former  things  :  what  is, 
and  what  was,  are  owed  to  thee  ! 

2  There  were  thirty  races.     The  consuls  exhibited  games 
on  their  entrance  into  office. 

3  Domitian  had  restored  pugilism  in  the  amphitheatre. 

4  The  Cot  (Casa  Romuli)  was  a  straw-thatched  cottage  on 
the  Palatine,  and  was  revered  as  the  legendary  dwelling  of 
the  Founder  of  Rome  :  cf.  Virg.  A  en.  viii.  654. 

5  Jove  is  magnificently  honoured,  yet  the  humble  Cot  is 
hallowed. 

63 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXXI 

NON  per  mystica  sacra  Dindymenes 

nee  per  Niliacae  bovem  iuvencae, 

nullos  denique  per  deos  deasque 

iurat  Gellia,  sed  per  uniones. 

hos  amplectitur,  hos  perosculatur,  5 

hos  fratres  vocat,  hos  vocat  sorores, 

hos  natis  amat  acrius  duobus. 

his  si  quo  careat  misella  casu, 

victuram  negat  esse  se  nee  horam. 

eheu,  quam  bene  mine,  Papiriane,  10 

Annaei  faceret  manus  Sereni ! 

LXXXII 

DANTE  tibi  turba  querulos,  Auguste,  libellos 

nos  quoque  quod  domino  carmina  parva  damus, 
posse  deum  rebus  pariter  Musisque  vacare 

scimus  et  haec  etiam  serta  placere  tibi. 
fer  vates,  Auguste,  tuos  :  nos  gloria  dulcis,  5 

nos  tua  cura  prior  deliciaeque  sumus. 
non  quercus  te  sola  decet  nee  laurea  Phoebi : 

fiat  et  ex  hedera  civica  nostra  tibi. 

1  Apis,  the  sacred  Egyptian  bull,  representing  Osiris,  the 
husband  of  Isis,  who  was  represented  as  a  heifer:  ef.  n.  xiv.  8. 

2  An   obscure  allusion.      Perhaps    S.  was    notoriously   a 
wearer  of  pearls.     Some  commentators  take  him  for  a  noted 
thief.     But  M.  would  then  hardly  have  mentioned  his  name. 

'•*  Domitian  had  himself  written  poetry  before  he  became 
emperor. 


64 


BOOK    VIII.  LXXXI-LXXXII 

LXXXI 

NOT  by  the  mystic  rites  of  Dindymene,  nor  by 
the  bull,1  the  spouse  of  Nile's  heifer,  in  a  word  by 
no  gods  and  goddesses  does  Gellia  swear,  but  by  her 
pearls.  These  she  hugs,  these  she  kisses  passion- 
ately, these  she  calls  her  brothers,  these  she  calls 
her  sisters,  these  she  loves  more  ardently  than  her 
two  sons.  If  by  any  chance  the  unhappy  woman 
should  lose  them,  she  says  she  would  not  live  even 
an  hour.  Ah,  how  usefully  now,  Papirianus,  would 
the  hand  of  Annaeus  Serenus  be  employed  ! 2 

LXXXII 

WHILE  the  throng  offers  to  you,  Augustus,  its 
querulous  petitions,  the  reason  why  we  too  offer  to 
our  Master  a  few  poems,  is  because  we  know  that  a 
god  can  have  leisure  at  once  for  business  and  for  the 
Muses,  and  that  even  this  wreath  of  song  pleases 
you.  Bear  with  your  bards,  Augustus :  we  are  your 
treasured  pride,  we  are  your  earlier3  care,  and  your 
delight.  Not  alone  does  the  oak4  beseem  you,  or 
Phoebus'  laurel ; 5  let  there  be  made  a  civic  crown 
for  you  of  ivy  6  as  well ! 

4  The  corona  civica  of  oak-leaves  given  to  one  who  had 
preserved  the  life  of  a  citizen,  afterwards  given  to  the 
emperor  as  the  general  preserver. 

8  The  crown  of  victory  in  war. 

6  The  distinction  of  a  poet :  cf.  Virg.  Eel.  viii.  12. 


65 
VOL.  II.  F 


BOOK  IX 


LIBER   NONUS 

HAVE,  mi  Torani,  frater  carissime.  epigramma, 
quod  extra  ordinem  paginarum  est,  ad  Stertinium 
clarissimum  virum  scripsimus,  qui  imaginem  meam 
ponere  in  bybliotheca  sua  voluit.  de  quo  scribendum 
tibi  putavi,  ne  ignorares  Avitus  iste  quis  vocaretur. 
vale  et  para  hospitium. 

Note,  licet  nolis,  sublimi  pectore  vates, 

cui  referet  serus  praemia  digna  cinis, 
hoc  tibi  sub  nostra  breve  carmen  imagine  vivat, 

quam  non  obscuris  iungis,  Avite,  viris : 
"  Ille  ego  sum  nulli  nugarum  laude  secundus,  5 

quern  non  miraris  sed  puto,  lector,  amas. 
maiores  maiora  sonent :  mihi  parva  locuto 

sufficit  in  vestras  saepe  redire  manus." 


DUM  lanus  hiemes,  Domitianus  autumnos, 
Augustus  annis  commodabit  aestates, 
dum  grande  famuli  nomen  adseret  Rheni 
Germanicarum  magna  lux  Kalendarum, 

1  Addressed  as  Avitus  also  in  i.  xvi. 
1  i.e.  a  senator.     S.  was  consul  A.D.  92. 

68 


BOOK    IX. 

GREETING,  my  Toranius,  dearest  brother.  The 
epigram  which  is  supernumerary  to  my  pages  I  have 
written  to  Stertinius,1  a  most  illustrious  man,2  who 
wished  to  place  my  bust  in  his  library.  Concerning 
whom  I  thought  I  ought  to  write  to  you,  that  you 
might  not  be  ignorant  who  was  the  Avitus  there 
addressed.  Farewell,  and  get  ready  your  hospitality. 

Famed,  though  against  thy  will,  as  a  bard  of  sub- 
lime invention,  to  whom  death  long  hence  shall 
pay  thy  fitting  meed,  let  this  short  stanza  abide, 
I  pray  thee,  beneath  that  bust  of  me,  which  thou 
addest,  Avitus,  to  those  of  not  ignoble  men  : 

"  Lo !  he  am  I  whose  light  verse  yields  to  none  ; 
Reader,  thy  love,  not  awe,  methinks  I've  won. 
Let  greater  men  strike  greater  notes  :  I  earn 
Enough  if  my  small  themes  oft  to  thy  hands  return." 


I 

WHILE  Janus  shall  lend  winters  to  the  year,  Do- 
mitianus  autumns,  Augustus  summers ;  while  the 
great  day  of  the  Germanic  Kalends  shall  claim  a 
mighty  name  from  the  subservient  Rhine ; 3  while 

3  Domitian,  copying  Augustus,  who  named  August,  gave 
the  names  Germanicus  and  Domitianus  to  September  and 
October  respectively,  because  he  was  made  emperor  in  the 
one  and  was  born  in  the  other  :  Suet.  Dom.  13. 

69 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

Tarpeia  summi  saxa  dum  patris  stabunt,  5 

dum  voce  supplex  dumque  ture  placabit 
matrona  divae  dulce  luliae  numen,  . 
manebit  altum  Flaviae  decus  gentis 
cum  sole  et  astris  cumque  luce  Romana. 
invicta  quidquid  condidit  manus,  caeli  est.        10 

II 

PAUPER  amicitiae  cum  sis,  Lupe,  non  es  amicae 

et  queritur  de  te  mentula  sola  nihil. 
ilia  siligineis  pinguescit  adultera  cunnis, 

convivam  pascit  nigra  farina  tuum. 
incensura  nives  dominae  Setina  liquantur,  5 

nos  bibimus  Corsi  pulla  venena  cadi ; 
empta  tibi  nox  est  fundis  non  tota  paternis, 

non  sua  desertus  rura  sodalis  arat ; 
splendet  Erythraeis  perlucida  moecha  lapillis, 

ducitur  addictus,  te  futuente,  cliens  ;  10 

octo  Syris  suflfulta  datur  lectica  puellae, 

nudum  sandapilae  pondus  amicus  erit. 
i  nunc  et  miseroSj  Cybele,  praecide  cinaedos  : 

haec  erat,  haec  cultris  mentula  digna  tuis. 

Ill 

QUANTUM  iam  superis,  Caesar,  caeloque  dedisti 
si  repetas  et  si  creditor  esse  velis, 

1  cf.  vi.  iii.  6  ;  vi.  xiii. 

1  The  temple  built  by  Domitian   in  honour  of  the  gens 
Flavia :  cf.  ix.  iii.  12. 

70 


BOOK    IX.  i-m 

the  Tarpeian  rock  of  the  Sire  Supreme  shall  stand ; 
while,  suppliant  with  prayer,  and  with  incense,  the 
matron  shall  propitiate  the  fair  deity  of  Julia l  now 
divine :  the  towering  glory  of  the  Flavian  race 2 
shall  endure,  coeternal  with  sun  and  stars,  and  with 
the  light  that  shines  on  Rome.  Whatever  an  un- 
conquered  arm  has  founded,  that  is  of  Heaven  ! 

II 

ALTHOUGH  you  are  a  poor  man  to  your  friends, 
Lupus,  you  are  not  so  to  your  mistress,  and  only 
your  virility  has  no  grievance  against  you.  She,  the 
adulteress,  fattens  on  lewdly  shaped  loaves : 3  black 
meal  feeds  your  guest.  Setine  wines  are  strained 
to  inflame  your  lady's  snow ; 4  we  drink  the  black 
poison  of  a  Corsican  jar.  Her  favours — not  un- 
shared— are  bought  at  the  price  of  your  paternal 
estate  ;  your  comrade,  neglected,  ploughs  fields  that 
are  not  his  own  :  the  adulteress  is  bright  and  shining 
with  Eastern  jewels ;  your  client  is  committed  and 
dragged  off  to  prison  while  you  enjoy  amours :  a 
litter  poised  on  eight  Syrian  slaves  is  given  to  your 
girl;  your  friend — a  naked  corpse  —  will  be  the 
burden  of  a  pauper's  bier.  Go  now,  Cybele !  and 
castrate  wretched  paederasts :  here,  here  is  matter 
long  since  worthy  of  your  knife  ! 

Ill 

WERE  you,  Caesar,  to  reclaim,  and  did  you  wish  to 
be  creditor  for  all  you  have  already  given  to  the 

3  cf.  xrv.  Ixix. 

4  cf.  v.  Ixiv.  2  ;  xiv.  cxvii. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

grandis  in  aetherio  licet  auctio  fiat  Olympo 

coganturque  dei  vendere  quidquid  habent, 
conturbabit  Atlans  et  non  erit  uncia  tota  5 

decidat  tecum  qua  pater  ipse  deum. 
pro  Capitolinis  quid  enim  tibi  solvere  templis, 

quid  pro  Tarpeiae  frondis  honore  potest  ? 
quid  pro  culminibus  geminis  matrona  Tonantis  ? 

Pallada  praetereo  :  res  agit  ilia  tuas.  10 

quid  loquar  Alciden  Phoebumque  piosque  Laconas  ? 

addita  quid  Latio  Flavia  templa  polo  ? 
expectes  et  sustineas,  Auguste,  necesse  est : 

nam  tibi  quod  solvat  non  habet  area  lovis. 

IV 
AUREOLIS  futui  cum  possit  Galla  duobus 

et  plus  quam  futui,  si  totidem  addideris, 
aureolos  a  te  cur  accipit,  Aeschyle,  denos  ? 

non  fellat  tanti  Galla.     quid  ergo  ?     tacet. 

V 

NUBERE  vis  Prisco  :  non  miror,  Pau^  ;  sapisti. 
ducere  te  non  vult  Priscus :  et  ille  sapit. 

VI 

TIBI,  summe  Rheni  domitor  et  parens  orbis, 
pudice  princeps,  gratias  agunt  urbes  : 

1  An  uncia  for  every  as,  i.e.  a  penny  hi  the  shilling. 

2  cf.  iv.  i.  6  :  iv.  liv.  1. 

3  Domitian  regarded  himself  as  being  peculiarly  under  the 
protection,  and  in  fact  the  son,  of  Pallas. 


BOOK    IX.  m-vi 

high  gods  and  to  heaven,  then,  though  a  great 
auction  were  held  on  skyey  Olympus  and  gods  were 
forced  to  sell  whatever  they  possess,  Atlas  will  go 
bankrupt,  and  there  will  not  be  a  full  twelfth : 
wherewith  the  Sire  of  the  gods  himself  may  settle 
with  you.  For  what  can  he  pay  you  in  return  for 
Capitoline  temples,  what  for  the  glory  of  the  Tarpeian 
oak  crown  ?  2  What  can  the  Thunderer's  dame  pay 
for  her  two  temples  ?  Pallas  I  pass  by  :  she  is  your 
partner.3  Why  should  I  speak  of  Alcides  and  Phoe- 
bus, and  the  loving  Spartan  twins  ?  4  Why  of  the 
Flavian  fane,  a  new  gift  to  the  Latin  heaven?  5  You 
must  wait  and  endure,  Augustus ;  for  to  pay  you 
Jove's  money-chest  has  not  the  wherewithal. 

IV 

ALTHOUGH  Galla's  favours  may  be  secured  for  two 
gold  pieces,  and  special  favours  if  you  add  as  much 
again,  why  does  she  receive  ten  pieces  from  you, 
Aeschylus  ?  Galla's  self-abandonment  is  not  so  dear 
as  that.  What  is,  then  ?  Her  silence. 


You  wish  to  marry  Priscus;  I  don't  wonder,  Paula; 
you  are  wise.  Priscus  does  not  wish  to  marry  you  : 
he,  too,  is  wise. 

VI 

To  thee,  Conqueror  supreme  of  Rhine,  and  parent 
of  the  world,  O  modest  Prince,  the  cities  give  their 

4  Castor  and  Pollux. 

5  i.e.  to  the  Roman  Pantheon,  the  deified  emperors  :  cf. 
ix.  xxxiv.  2. 

73 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

populos  habebunt ;  parere  iam  scelus  non  est. 

non  puer  avari  sectus  arte  mangonis 

virilitatis  damna  maeret  ereptae, 

nee  quam  superbus  conputet  stipeni  leno 

dat  prostitute  misera  mater  infanti. 

qui  nee  cubili  fuerat  ante  te  quondam, 

pudor  esse  per  te  coepit  et  lupanari. 


VII 

DICERE  de  Libycis  reduci  tibi  gentibus,  Afer, 
continuis  volui  quinque  diebus  "Have"  : 

"Non  vacat "  aut  "  Dormit "  dictum  est  bis  terque 

reverse, 
iam  satis  est.     non  vis,  Afer,  havere:  vale. 

VIII 

TAMQUAM  parva  foret  sexus  iniuria  nostri 

foedandos  populo  prostituisse  mares, 
iam  cunae  lenonis  erant,  ut  ab  ubere  raptus 

sordida  vagitu  posceret  aera  puer  : 
inmatura  dabant  infandas  corpora  poenas.  5 

non  tulit  Ausonius  talia  monstra  pater, 
idem  qui  teneris  nuper  succurrit  ephebis, 

ne  faceret  steriles  saeva  libido  viros. 
dilexere  prius  pueri  iuvenesque  senesque, 

at  nunc  infantes  te  quoque,  Caesar,  amant.  10 


1  cf.  n.  Ix.  4  ;  v.  Ixxv. 

2  "  Vale"  was  said  when  the  survivors  took  leave  of  the 

74 


BOOK    IX.  VI-VIH 

thanks :  population  shall  they  have ;  to  bring  forth 
is  at  last  no  crime.1  The  boy,  mutilated  by  the 
grasping  slave-dealer's  art,  does  not  lament  the  loss 
of  his  ravished  manhood,  nor  does  a  needy  mother 
give  her  prostituted  infant  the  pittance  which  the 
haughty  pander  is  to  count  out.  The  modesty  which 
erewhile  before  thee  not  even  the  marriage-bed 
possessed,  now  by  thy  means  even  a  brothel  begins 
to  show. 

VII 

WHEN  you  had  returned  from  the  tribes  of  Libya, 
Afer,  five  days  running  I  wanted  to  say  "  Good  day ! " 
"  He  is  engaged,"  or  "  He  is  taking  a  siesta,"  was 
the  message  when  I  had  returned  twice  and  three 
times.  Enough  !  Afer,  you  don't  want  a  "  Good 
day  "  :  "  Good  bye."  2 

VIII 

As  if  it  were  small  injury  to  our  sex  to  prostitute 
our  males  to  pollution  by  the  people,  the  cradle  was 
but  now  so  the  pander's  own  that  a  boy  snatched 
from  his  mother's  breast  begged  with  infant  wail  for 
sordid  coin ;  bodies  immature  suffered  unutterable 
outrage.3  The  Father  of  Italy  could  not  endure 
such  enormities,  even  he  who  of  late  succoured 4 
tender  youths,  that  cruel  lust  might  not  make 
barren  men.  Boys  loved  thee  before,  and  young 
men,  and  aged  sires  ;  but  now  infants,  too,  love  thee, 
Caesar. 

corpse  at  a  funeral :  cf.  v.  Ixvi.  2.  "I  shall  look  upon  you 
as  dead  in  future,"  says  M. 

3  Domitian  revived  the  Lex  Scantinia,  against  unnatural 
crimes  :  Suet.  Dom.  viii. 

4  cf.  ix.  vi.  4, 

75 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

IX 

NIL  tibi  legavit  Fabius,  Bithynice,  cui  tu 

annua,  si  memini,  milia  sena  dabas. 
plus  nulli  dedit  ille  :  queri,  Bithynice,  noli : 

annua  legavit  milia  sena  tibi. 

X 

CENES,  Canthare,  cum  foris  libenter, 
clamas  et  maledicis  et  minaris. 
deponas  animos  truces  monemus  : 
liber  non  potes  et  gulosus  esse. 

XI 

NOMEN  cum  violis  rosisque  natum, 

quo  pars  optima  nominatur  anni, 

Hyblam  quod  sapit  Atticosque  flores, 

quod  nidos  olet  alitis  superbae  ; 

nomen  nectare  dulcius  beato,  5 

quo  mallet  Cybeles  puer  vocari 

et  qui  pocula  temperat  Tonanti, 

quod  si  Parrhasia  sones  in  aula, 

respondent  Veneres  Cupidinesque ; 

nomen  nobile  molle  delicatum  10 

versu  dicere  non  nidi  volebam  : 

sed  tu,  syllaba  contumax,  repugnas. 

dicunt  Eiarinon  tamen  poetae, 

sed  Graeci  quibus  est  nihil  negatum 

et  qu os 'Apes  "Apes  decet  sonare  :  15 

nobis  non  licet  esse  tarn  disertis 

qui  Musas  colimus  severiores. 

1  "You  now  save  the  sum  you  spent  on  him." 

2  The  honey  of  Hybla,  in  Sicily,  and  of  Hymettus  respec- 
tively :  cf.  V.  xxxix.  3 ;  vn.  Ixxxviii.  8. 

76 


BOOK    IX.  ix-xi 

IX 

FABIUS  has  bequeathed  you  nothing,  Bithynicus, 
he  to  whom,  if  I  remember,  you  used  to  give  six 
thousand  sesterces  a  year.  More  he  gave  to  no  man ; 
don't  complain,  Bithynicus :  he  has  bequeathed  you 
six  thousand  sesterces  a  year.1 


ALTHOUGH  you  gladly  dine  abroad,  Cantharus,  you 
bawl  and  abuse  and  threaten  people.  Discard  such 
truculent  spirits,  I  warn  you ;  you  can't  be  both 
independent  and  a  glutton. 

XI 

A  NAME  born  with  the  violets  and  the  roses,  after 
which  the  year's  best  part  is  called,  that  savours  of 
Hybla  and  Attic  flowers,2  that  smells  of  the  nest  of 
the  lordly  fowl;3  a  name,  sweeter  than  nectar  divine, 
by  which  Cybele's  loved  boy  4  and  he  who  blends  his 
draught  for  the  Thunderer,  would  fain  be  called ; 
whereto,  shouldst  thou  sound  it  in  the  Palatine  hall, 
Venuses  and  Cupids  make  answer ;  a  name  noble, 
soft,  delicate — this  I  wished  to  Utter  in  no  rugged 
verse :  but  you,  an  obstinate  syllable,  rebel.5  Yet 
poets  speak  of  Eiarinos ;  but  they  were  Greeks,  to 
whom  nothing  is  denied,  and  whom  it  becomes  to 
sound  Ares  short  as  Ares  long.6  We  cannot  be  so 
versatile,  who  court  Muses  more  unbending. 

3  The  phoenix  :  cf.  vi.  Iv.  2. 

4  Attis  :  cf.  v.  xli.  2. 

8  The  four  short  syllables  in  Earinos  will  not  go  into  M.'s 
metre. 

6  Homer  (II.  v.  31)  uses  both  quantities  in  one  line  :  ^Apes, 
poro\oiyf,  fj.tai(f>6ve,  T«ixe<T(irA^TO. 

77 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XII 

Si  daret  autumnus  mihi  nomen,  Oporinos  essem, 
horrida  si  brumae  sidera,  Chimerinos  ; 

dictus  ab  aestivo  Therinos  tibi  mense  vocarer : 
tempora  cui  nomen  verna  dedere,  quis  est  ? 

XIII 
NOMEN  habes  teneri  quod  tempora  nuncupat  anni, 

cum  breve  Cecropiae  ver  populantur  apes  : 
nomen  Acidalia  meruit  quod  harundine  pingi, 

quod  Cytherea  sua  scribere  gaudet  acu  ; 
nomen  Erythraeis  quod  littera  facta  lapillis,  5 

gemma  quod  Heliadum  pollice  trita  notet; 
quod  pinna  scribente  grues  ad  sidera  tollant ; 

quod  decet  in  sola  Caesaris  esse  domo. 

XIV 
HUNC  quern  mensa  tibi,  quern  cena  paravit  amicum 

esse  putas  fidae  pectus  amicitiae  ? 
aprum  amat  et  mullos  et  sumeii  et  ostrea,  non  te. 

tarn  bene  si  cenem,  noster  amicus  erit. 

1  The  Greek  adjectives  expressing  autumn,  winter,  and 
summer  are  respectively  'Orr<apiv6s,  Xfifatpiv6s,  and  &tptv6s. 
"  Of  spring  "  is  similarly  'Eaptv6s. 

1  Acidalia  was  a  name  of  Venus  from  a  fountain  in 
Boeotia.  She  was  also  called  Cytherea  from  Cythera,  an 
island  off  the  coast  of  Laconia. 

78 


BOOK    IX.  xn-xiv 

XII 

WERE  Autumn  to  give  me  my  name,  Oporinus 
should  I  be,  or  if  rough  winter's  sky,  Chimerinos ; 
named  after  summer's  month,  to  you  I  should  be 
called  Therinos :  who  is  he  to  whom  spring's  season 
has  given  his  name  ? 1 

XIII 

THOU  hast  a  name  that  bespeaks  the  season  of  the 
budding  year,  when  Attic  bees  lay  waste  the  brief- 
lived  spring ;  a  name  meet  to  be  writ  in  colour  by 
Acidalia's2  pen,  which  Cytherea  joys  to  embroider 
with  her  own  needle;  a  name  which  letters  strung 
of  Indian  pearls,  which  a  jewel  of  the  Heliades 3 
rubbed  by  the  fingers,  should  mark;  which  cranes 
with  wings  that  write  upon  the  skies4  should  lift 
to  heaven ;  which  it  beseems  to  be  in  Caesar's  house 
alone. 

XIV 

THIS  man,  whom  your  table,  whom  your  dinner 
has  made  your  friend — think  you  his  heart  one  of 
loyal  friendship  ?  'Tis  boar  he  loves,  and  mullet, 
and  sow's  paps,  and  oysters,  not  you.  Were  I  to 
dine  so  well,  he  will  be  my  friend. 

8  By  amber,  into  which  the  tears  of  the  H.  for  the  death 
of  their  brother  Phaethon  were  turned.  It  became  fragrant 
by  rubbing  :  cf.  in.  Ixv.  5  ;  xi.  viii.  6. 

4  Palamedes  was  said  to  have  invented  the  Greek  T  (the 
Latin  V)  by  observing  the  formation  of  cranes  in  flight. 
V  begins  ver  (spring),  and  represents  Earinos :  cf.  xni. 
Ixxv. 

79 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XV 

INSCRIPSIT  tumulis  septem  scelerata  virorum 
"Se  fecisse  "  Chloe.     quid  pote  simplicius  ? 

XVI 

CONSILIUM  formae  speculum  dulcisque  capillos 

Pergameo  posuit  dona  sacrata  deo 
ille  puer  tota  domino  gratissimus  aula, 

nomine  qui  signat  tempora  verna  suo. 
felix  quae  tali  censetur  munere  tellus !  5 

nee  Ganymedeas  mallet  habere  comas. 

XVII 

LATONAE  venerande  nepos,  qui  mitibus  herbis 

Parcarum  exoras  pensa  brevesque  colos, 
hos  tibi  laudatos  domino,  rata  vota,1  capillos 

ille  tuus  Latia  misit  ab  urbe  puer ; 
addidit  et  nitidum  sacratis  crinibus  orbem,  5 

quo  felix  facies  iudice  tuta  fuit. 
tu  iuvenale  decus  serva,  ne  pulchrior  ille 

in  longa  fuerit  quam  breviore  coma. 

XVIII 

EST  mihi  (sitque  precor  longum  te  praeside,  Caesar) 
rus  minimum,  parvi  sunt  et  in  urbe  lares. 

1  sua  vota  0,  rata  voce  y. 

1  The  words  are  ambiguous.  "  Chloe  fecit "  was  intended 
to  mean  "  C.  built  this  tomb."  M.  suggests  "wrought  the 
death  of  her  husbands." 

80 


BOOK    IX.  xv-xvni 

XV 

ACCURSED  Chloe  inscribed  the  monuments  of  her 
seven  husbands  with  "  Chloe  wrought  this."  What 
could  be  plainer  ? l 

XVI 

His  mirror,  beauty's  counsellor,  and  his  darling 
locks — gifts  dedicated  to  the  god  of  Pergamus2 — 
that  boy 3  has  offered,  who,  in  all  the  palace  most 
dear  to  his  master,  by  his  name  denotes  the  time 
of  spring.  Happy  the  land  whose  worth  is  gauged 
by  such  a  gift !  It  would  not  choose  instead  even 
the  tresses  of  Ganymede. 

XVII 

REVERED  grandson  of  Latona,  who  with  the  magic 
of  thy  gentle  herbs  dost  win  over4  the  threads 
and  brief  distaffs  of  the  Fates,  these  locks '  by  his 
master  praised  thy 5  boy  has  sent,  his  vow's  fulfil- 
ment, from  Latium's  city ;  and  to  his  consecrated 
hair  has  he  added  the  bright  disk,  by  whose  judg- 
ment his  happy  beauty  was  assured.  Do  thou  pre- 
serve his  youthful  bloom,  that  he  be  no  fairer  with 
long  curls  than  with  shortened  locks  ! 

XVIII 

1  HAVE-r-and  I  pray  I  may    have  it  long,  Caesar, 
beneath  thy  guardianship — a  tiny  country  house,  and 

2  Aesculapius,  the  god  of  healing,  who  had  a  temple  at 
Pergamus  in  Asia  Minor. 

3  Earinos,  Domitian's  cupbearer,  mentioned  in  Epp.  xi.-xiii. 

4  i.e.  who  dost  prolong  human  life. 

5  Perhaps  Earinos  came  from  Pergamus. 

81 

VOL.    II.  O 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

sed  de  valle  brevi  quas  det  sitientibus  hortis 

curva  laboratas  antlia  tollit  aquas : 
sicca  domus  queritur  nullo  se  rore  foveri,  5 

cum  mihi  vicino  Marcia  fonte  sonet. 
quam  dederis  nostris,  Auguste,  penatibus  undam, 

Castalis  haec  nobis  aut  lovis  imber  erit. 

XIX 

LAUDAS  balnea  versibus  trecentis 
cenantis  bene  Pontici,  Sabelle. 
vis  cenare,  Sabelle,  non  lavari. 

XX 

HAEC,  quae  tota  patet  tegiturque  et  marmore  et  auro, 

infantis  domini  conscia  terra  fuit. 
felix  o,  quantis  sonuit  vagitibus  et  quas 

vidit  reptantis  sustinuitque  manus  ! 
hie  steterat  veneranda  domus  quae  praestitit  orbi     5 

quod  Rhodos  astrifero,  quod  pia  Creta,  polo. 
Curetes  texere  lovem  crepitantibus  armis, 

semiviri  poterant  qualia  ferre  Phryges : 
at  te  protexit  superum  pater  et  tibi,  Caesar, 

pro  iaculo  et  parma  fulmen  et  aegis  erat.  10 

1  The  Aqua,  Marcia  was  one  of  the  great  aqueducts. 
According  to  Strabo  (v.  8)  almost  every  house  in  Rome 
had  water  laid  on  ;  see  also  Hor.  Ep.  i.  x.  20.  M.'s  was  an 
exception :  cf.  vin.  Ixvii.  7. 

*  An  epigram  on  the  building  of  the  Flavian  Temple  on 
the  site  of  the  house  in  which  Domitian  was  born  :  Suet. 
Dom.  i. 

82 


BOOK    IX.  XVIH-XX 

I  have,  too,  a  small  dwelling  in  the  city.  But  my 
curved  pole  and  bucket  lift  with  labour  from  a 
shallow  valley  water  to  bestow  on  the  thirsty  garden; 
the  arid  house  complains  that  it  is  freshened  by 
no  moisture,  though  Marcia  babbles  in  my  ears  with 
neighbouring  fount.1  The  water  thou  shalt  give, 
Augustus,  to  my  household  gods  will  be  to  me  a 
spring  of  Castaly  or  a  shower  of  Jove. 

XIX 

You  extol  in  infinite  verse  the  baths  of  Ponticus 
who  gives  good  dinners,  Sabellus.  You  wish  to  dine, 
Sabellus,  not  to  wash ! 

XX 

THIS  spot  of  earth,  which  now  lies  wholly  open, 
and  is  being  covered  with  marble  and  with  gold, 
knew  our  lord's  infant  years.2  O  blessed  spot !  With 
wail  ings  of  how  great  a  babe  it  echoed,  and  what 
hands  it  saw  and  upbore  as  they  crept !  Here 
had  stood  the  house  august  that  made  real  to  the 
world  what  Rhodes,  what  duteous  Crete  3  made  real 
to  the  starry  heaven.  Cybele's  priests  guarded  Jove 
with  their  rattling  arms,  such  arms  as  Phrygians, 
but  half  men,  could  wield  ;  4  but  thee  the  Sire  of  the 
gods  safeguarded,  and  for  thee,  Caesar,  thunderbolt 
and  aegis  stood  for  spear  and  buckler. 

3  i.e.  the  birth  of  a  god.     Pallas  (Find.  01.  vii.  35)  was 
said  to  have  sprung  from  the  head  of  Zeus  at  Rhodes.     But 
some  commentators  think  Poseidon  is  referred  to.     Zeus  or 
Jupiter  was  born  in  Crete. 

4  The  Curetes    (demi-gods)   clashed  their  arms  to  drown 
the  infant's   cries,  lest   his  father  Cronos  should  hear  and 
eat  him. 

83 

G  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXI 

ARTEMIDORUS  habet  puerum  sed  vendidit  agrum  ; 

agrum  pro  puero  Calliodorus  habet. 
die  uter  ex  istis  melius  rem  gesserit,  Aucte  : 
*"  Artemidorus  amat,  Calliodorus  arat. 

XXII 

CREDIS  ob  haec  me,  Pastor,  opes  fortasse  rogare 

propter  quae  populus  crassaque  turba  rogat, 
ut  Setina  meos  consumat  gleba  ligones 

et  sonet  innumera  compede  Tuscus  ager ; 
ut  Mauri  Libycis  centum  stent  dentibus  orbes  5 

et  crepet  in  nostris  aurea  lamna  toris, 
nee  labris  nisi  magna  meis  crystalla  terantur 

et  faciant  nigras  nostra  Falerna  nives  ; 
ut  canusinatus  nostro  Syrus  assere  sudet 

et  mea  sit  culto  sella  cliente  frequens ;  10 

aestuet  ut  nostro  madidus  conviva  ministro, 

quern  permutatum  nee  Ganymede  velis  ; 
ut  lutulenta  linat  Tyrias  mihi  mula  lacernas 

et  Massy  la  meum  virga  gubernet  equum. 
est  nihil  ex  istis  :  superos  ac  sidera  testor.  15 

ergo  quid  ?     ut  donem,  Pastor,  et  aedificem. 

XXIII 

O  cui  virgineo  flavescere  contigit  auro, 
die  ubi  Palladium  sit  tibi,  Care,  decus. 

1  Wine  was  strained  through  snow :  cf.  v.  Ixiv.  2 ;  XIV. 
cxvii.  2  cf.  xiv.  cxxvii.  and  cxxix.  3  cf.  x.  xiii.  2. 

*  Possibly  Pastor  (like  Gellius  in  rx.  xlvi.)  made  "building" 
an  excuse  for  never  "  giving."  Friedlander  explains  "carry 
out  public  works  for  the  general  good  " ;  but  this  is  not  in 
the  Latin. 

84 


BOOK    IX.  xxi-xxiu 

XXI 

ARTEMIDORUS  possesses  a  young  slave,  but  has 
sold  liis  land ;  the  land  Calliodorus  possesses  in  ex- 
change for  the  slave.  Say,  which  of  those  two 
made  the  better  bargain,  Auctus  ?  Artemidorus  has 
his  pleasure,  Calliodorus  his  plough. 

XXII 

You  believe,  Pastor,  I  perhaps  ask  for  riches  for 
the  same  reasons  as  the  vulgar  and  the  dense-witted 
crowd  ask,  in  order  that  Setia's  glebe  may  wear  away 
my  hoes,  and  Tuscan  fields  clank  with  countless  fet-  ' 
tered  slaves  ;  that  a  hundred  round  Moorish  tables 
may  stand  on  Libyan  tusks,  and  golden  plating 
tinkle  on  my  couches ;  that  none  but  large  crystal 
cups  be  rubbed  by  my  lips,  and  that  my  Falernian 
darken  the  cooling  snow;1  that  Syrian  slaves  in 
Canusian2  wool  may  sweat  beneath  my  litter-pole, 
and  my  chair  be  crowded  by  full-dressed  clients ; 
that  the  tipsy  guest  may  be  hot  for  page  of  mine, 
whom  you  would  not  barter  eyen  for  a  Ganymede ; 
that  a  mud-bespattered  'mule  may  soil  my  Tyrian 
cloak,  and  the  rod  of  a  Massylian  s  guide  my  horse. 
'Tis  none  of  those  things — I  call  to  witness  the  high 
gods  and  heaven  !  Then  what  ?  To  make  presents, 

Pastor,  and  to  build.4 

» 

XXIII 

O  THOU  whose  lot  has  been  to  gleam  with  the 
Virgin's  gold,5  say,  Carus,  where  is  the  prize  Pallas 

6  C.  had  won  the  golden  olive-wreath,  the  prize  for  poetry, 
at  the  annual  contest  in  honour  of  Minerva  at  Domitian's 
Alban  villa :  cf.  iv.  i.  5.  This  he  had  transferred  to  the 
Emperor's  bust. 

85 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

"  Aspicis  en  domini  fulgentes  marmore  vultus  ? 

venit  ad  has  ultro  nostra  corona  comas." 
Albanae  livere  potest  pia  quercus  olivae,  5 

cinxerit  invictum  quod  prior  ilia  caput. 

» 

XXIV 

Quis  Palatinos  imitatus  imagine  vultus 
Phidiacum  Latio  marmore  vicit  ebur  ? 

haec  mundi  fades,  haec  sunt  lovis  ora  sereni : 
sic  tonat  ille  deus  cum  sine  nube  tonat. 

non  solam  tribuit  Pallas  tibi,  Care,  coronam  ;  5 

effigiem  domini,  quam  colis,  ilia  dedit. 

XXV 

DANTEM  vina  tuum  quotiens  aspeximus  Hyllum, 

luinine  nos,  Afer,  turbidiore  notas. 
quod,  rogo,  quod  seel  us  est  mollem  spectare  minis- 
trum  ? 

aspicimus  solem  sidera  templa  deos. 
avertam  vultus,  tamquam  mihi  pocula  Gorgon  5 

porrigat  atque  oculos  oraque  nostra  petat l  ? 
trux  erat  Alcides,  et  Hylan  spectare  licebat ; 

ludere  Mercuric  cum  Ganymede  licet, 
si  non  vis  teneros  spectet  conviva  ministros, 

Phineas  invites,  Afer,  et  Oedipodas.  10 

1  tegam  /3,  petat. 
86 


BOOK    IX.  xxni-xxv 

gave  thee  ?  "  Seest  thou  there  our  master's  face 
bright  in  marble  ?  My  crown  unprompted  passed 
to  those  locks."  The  patriot  oak1  may  envy  Alba's 
olive  for  that  it  first  wreathed  that  unconquered 

brow. 

• 

XXIV 

WHO,  portraying  in  a  bust  Imperial  features,  has 
in  Latin  marble  surpassed  Phidian  ivory?  This  is 
the  aspect  of  a  world,  this  the  countenance  of  Jove 
in  calm :  so  thundei's  that  god  when  he  thunders 
in  cloudless  skies.  Not  a  crown  alone  has  Pallas 
granted  thee,  Carus ;  our  master's  effigy  which  thou 
dost  worship  has  she  given. 


XXV 

As  often  as  we  have  glanced  at  your  Hyllus  while 
he  is  serving  wine,  'tis  with  a  somewhat  troubled  eye 
you  regard  us,  Afer.  What,  what  offence,  I  ask  you, 
is  it  to  gaze  on  a  gentle  cup-bearer  ?  We  look  upon 
the  sun,  stars,  temples,  gods.  Am  I  to  turn  away 
my  face  as  if  a  Gorgon  offered  me  the  cup,  and  were 
assaulting  my  eyes  and  my  face  ?  Fierce  was  Al- 
cides,  and  'twas  allowed  to  gaze  on  Hylas :  Mercury 
is  allowed  to  sport  along  with  Ganymede.  If  you 
do  not  wish  your  guest  to  gaze  on  your  youthful 
servants,  Afer,  you  should  invite  Phineuses  and 
Oedipuses.2 

1  The  golden  oak -leaf  crown,  the  prize  of  the  quinquennial 
contest  in  music,  etc.,   in  honour  of  Jup.  Capitolinus :  cf. 
iv.  i.  6. 

2  Both  Phineus  and  Oedipus  were  blind. 

8? 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

XXVI 

AUDET  facundo  qui  carmina  mittere  Nervae, 

pallida  donabit  glaucina,  Cosine,  tibi, 
Paestano  violas  et  cana  ligustra  colono, 

Hyblaeis  apibus  Corsica  mella  dabit.  • 
sed  tamen  et  parvae  normulla  est  gratia  Musae  ;        5 

appetitur  posito  vilis  oliva  lupo. 
nee  tibi  sit  mirum  modici  quod  conscia  vatis 

iudicium  metuit  nostra  Thalia  tuum  : 
ipse  tuas  etiam  veritus  Nero  dicitur  aures, 

lascivum  iuvenis  cum  tibi  lusit  opus.  10 

XXVII 

CUM  depilates,  Chreste,  coleos  portes 

et  vulturino  mentulam  parem  collo 

et  prostitutis  levius  caput  culis, 

nee  vivat  ullus  in  tuo  pilus  crure, 

purgentque  saevae  cana  labra  volsellae,  5 

Curios  Camillos  Quintios  Numas  Ancos 

et  quidquid  usquam  legimus  pilosorum 

loqueris  sonasque  grandibus  minax  verbis, 

et  cum  theatris  saeculoque  rixaris. 

occurrit  aliquis  inter  ista  si  draucus,  10 

iam  paedagogo  liberatus  et  cuius 

refibulavit  turgidum  faber  penem, 

nutu  vocatum  ducis,  et  pudet  fari 

Catoniana,  Chreste,  quod  facis  lingua. 

1  The  future  emperor :  cf.  vni.  Ixx. 

2  The  celebrated  perfumer :  cf.  in.  Iv.  1.      Glaucina  seems 
to  have   been   an  unguent  made  from   the  plant  ylaucium 
(?  celandine). 

3  i.e.  will  send  things  —and  inferior  things — where  they 
are    not    wanted.      Corsican    honey   was    bitter    from    the 
abundance  of  yews  in  the  island  :  cf.  Verg.  Eel.  ix.  30. 

88 


BOOK    IX.  xxvi-xxvn 

XXVI 

HE  who  ventures  to  send  poetry  to  eloquent  Nerva l 
will  present  you,  Cosmus,2  with  pale  glaucine  unguent, 
will  give  to  a  Paestan  gardener  violets  and  white 
privets,  to  bees  of  Hybla  Corsican  honey.3  Yet 
even  a  humble  Muse  possesses  some  charm ;  a  cheap 
olive  gives  relish  to  a  bass  upon  the  board.  And  do 
not  wonder  that,  conscious  of  the  slender  powers  of 
her  bard,  my  Thalia  shrinks  from  your  judgment ; 
even  Nero  himself4  is  said  to  have  feared  your  critic 
ears  when  in  youth  he  lightly  touched  for  you  some 
wanton  theme. 

XXVII 

ALTHOUGH  you  carry  about  one  part  of  your  person, 
Chrestus,  plucked  of  hair,  and  another  matching  a 
vulture's  neck,  and  a  head  smoother  than  prosti- 
tuted -  — ,  and  not  a  single  bristle  sprouts  on  your 
shanks,  and  pitiless  pluckings  clear  your  bloodless 
lips,  you  prate  of  Curii,  Camilli,  Quinctii,  Numas, 
Ancuses,  and  of  all  the  bristly  philosophers  we 
read  of  anywhere,5  and  you  vociferate  in  loud  and 
threatening  words,  and  quarrel  with  the  theatres 
and  the  age.  But  if,  in  the  midst  of  that  pother 
of  yours,  there  meet  you,  now  freed  from  his 
pedagogue,  some  sodomite  di  cui  turgido  membro 
abbia  il  fabro  sfibbiato,  tu  lo  conduci  chiamato»con 
un  segno ;  e  mi  vergogno  dire,  O  Chresto,  cio  che 
fai  colla  tua  lingua  da  Catone. 

4  Who  made  verses  easily :  Suet.  Ner.  lii. 

5  M.  constantly  reviles  the  hypocrisy  of  dissolute  scoun- 
drels assuming  the  guise  of  philosophers :  cf.  i.  xxiv. ;  ix. 
xlviii. ;  and  Juv.  ii.  3  seqq. 

.     89 


THE   EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

XXVIII 

DULCE  decus  scaenae,  ludorum  fama,  Latinus 

ille  ego  sum,  plausus  deliciaeque  tuae, 
qui  spectatorem  potui  fecisse  Catonem, 

solvere  qui  Curios  Fabriciosque  graves, 
sed  nihil  a  nostro  sumpsit  mea  vita  theatro  5 

et  sola  tantum  scaenicus  arte  feror : 
nee  poteram  gratus  domino  sine  moribus  esse  : 

interius  mentes  inspicit  ille  deus. 
vos  me  laurigeri  parasitum  dicite  Phoebi, 

Roma  sui  famulum  dum  sciat  esse  lovis.  10 

xxrx 

SAECULA  Nestoreae  permensa,  Philaeni,  senectae 

rapta  es  ad  infernas  tarn  cito  Ditis  aquas  ? 
Euboicae  nondum  numerabas  longa  Sibyllae 

tempora :  maior  erat  mensibus  ilia  tribus. 
heu  quae  lingua  silet !  non  illam  mille  catastae          5 

vincebant,  nee  quae  turba  Sarapin  amat, 
nee  matutini  cirrata  caterva  magistri, 

nee  quae  Strymonio  de  grege  ripa  sonat. 
quae  nunc  Thessalico  lunam  deducere  rhombo, 

quae  sciet  hos  illos  vendere  lena  toros?  10 

1  A  celebrated  mime  or  comic  actor :  cf.  n.  Ixxii.  3.  He 
wa*  also  a  delator,  or  informer. 

*  Ben  Jonson  has  evidently  copied  these  lines  in  his  tribute 
to  Shakespeare,  "  Th'  applause,  delight,  the  wonder  of  our 
stage."  3  cf.  i.  Intr.  Epist. 

*  My  art  is  that  of  a  mime,  not  my  morals. 

8  There  appears  to  have  been  a  fellowship  of  mimi  (comic 
actors),  called  the  "Parasites  of  Phoebus."  At  any  rate  mimi 
were  so  called :  cf.  Grub.  Corp.  Inscr.  cccxxix.  and  cccxxx. 

90 


BOOK    IX.  xxvui-xxix 

XXVIII 

THE  darling  pride  of  the  stage,  the  glory  of  the 
games,  that  Latinus l  am  I,  the  favourite  of  your 
applause,2  who  could  have  made  a  spectator  of 
Cato,3  who  could  have  dissolved  in  laughter  the 
stern  Curii  and  Fabricii.  But  nought  from  Rome's 
theatre  did  my  life  assume ;  and  only  through  my 
art  am  I  accounted  of  the  stage ;  *  nor  could  I  have 
been  dear  to  my  master  had  I  not  character :  that 
God  looks  into  the  heart  within.  Call  me,  if  ye 
will,  the  parasite  of  laurelled  Phoebus,5  so  Rome 
but  know  that  I  am  the  servant  of  her  Jove.6 


XXIX 

PHILAENIS,  who  hast  measured  to  the  full  the  ages 
of  Nestor's  long  life,  hast  thou  been  hurried  so  swiftly 
to  the  nether  waters  of  Dis  ?  Not  as  yet  wert  thou 
reckoning  the  long  years  of  Euboea's  Sibyl : 7  older 
by  three  months  was  she.  Alas,  what  a  tongue  is 
silent !  That  tongue  not  a  thousand  slave-marts  used 
to  drown,  nor  the  throng  that  worships  Serapis,  nor 
the  curly-headed  troop  of  the  schoolmaster  at  morn, 
nor  the  river  bank  that  echoes  to  Strymon's  flock  of 
cranes.  Who  now  will  be  cunning  with  Thessalian 
wheel  to  draw  earthward  the  moon,8  what  bawd 
to  sell  this  or  that  marriage  bed*?  May  upon  thee 

8  The  emperor. 

7  The  Sibyl  of  Cumae  in  Campania,  a  colony  from  Chalcis 
in    Euboea.     Sibyls  were   women   inspired   with   prophetic 
power.     The  Cumaean  Sibyl. was  said  to  have  been  700  years 
old  when  Aeneas  landed,  centuries  before  Martial. 

8  Witches   were   supposed  to   have   this  power :   cf.  xu. 
Ivii.  17. 

91 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

sit  tibi  terra  levis  mollique  tegaris  harena, 
ne  tua  non  possint  eruere  ossa  canes. 


XXX 

CAPPADOCUM  saevis  Antistius  occidit  oris 
Rusticus.     o  tristi  crimine  terra  nocens  ! 

rettulit  ossa  sinu  cari  Nigrina  mariti 
et  questa  est  longas  non  satis  esse  vias ; 

cumque  daret  sanctam  turaulis,  quibus  invidet,  urnam, 
visa  sibi  est  rapto  bis  viduata  viro.  6 

XXXI 

CUM  comes  Arctois  haereret  Caesaris  armis 

Velius,  hanc  Marti  pro  duce  vovit  avem. 
luna  quater  binos  non  tota  peregerat  orbes, 

debita  poscebat  iam  sibi  vota  deus  : 
ipse  suas  anser  properavit  laetus  ad  aras  5 

et  cecidit  sanctis  hostia  parva  focis. 
octo  vides  patulo  pendere  nomismata  rostro 

alitis  ?     haec  extis  condita  nuper  erant. 
quae  litat  argento  pro  te,  non  sanguine,  Caesar, 

victima  iam  ferro  non  opus  esse  docet.  10 


.       XXXII 

HANC  volo  quae  facilis,  quae  palliolata  vagatur, 
hanc  volo  quae  puero  iam  dedit  ante  meo, 

1  The  last  two  lines  are  found  in  a  Greek  epigram  (Anth. 
Pal.  xi.  226)  by  Ammianus,  a  contemporary  of  M. 
.    *  Velius  Paullus,  who  went  with  Domitian  to  the  Sarma- 
tian  war. 

9  2 


BOOK    IX.  xxix-xxxn 

earth  be  light,  and  thou  be  covered  with  crumbling 
sand,  that  thy  bones  dogs  may  not — be  unable  to 
root  up ! x 

XXX 

ANTISTIUS  RUSTICUS  has  died  on  Cappadocia's  cruel 
shores  :  O  land  guilty  of  a  dolorous  crime  !  Nigrina 
brought  back  in  her  bosom  her  dear  husband's  bones, 
and  sighed  that  the  way  was  all  too  short ;  and 
when  to  the  tomb  she  envies  she  was  giving  that 
sacred  urn,  she  deemed  herself  twice  widowed  of 
her  ravished  spouse. 

XXXI 

VELius,2  what  time  he  looked  to  join  Caesar's 
Arctic  war,  for  his  general's  sake  vowed  this  bird 
to  Mars.3  The  moon  had  not  rounded  full  her  orb 
twice  four  times  over4  when  the  god  was  claiming 
the  vow  already  due.  Of  its  own  accord  5  the  goose 
gladly  hasted  to  the  altar,  and  fell,  a  humble  victim, 
on  the  sacred  hearth.  See  you  eight  coins  hang- 
ing from  the  fowl's  open  beak  ?  These  were  but 
now  hid  in  its  entrails.  The  victim,  Caesar,  that  for 
thee  gives  fair  omens  with  silver,  not  with  blood, 
teaches  us  there  is  now  no  need  for  steel. 

XXXII 

HER  I  wish  for  who  is  willing,  who  gads  about  in 
a  mantilla,  her  I  wish  for  who  has  already  granted 

8  A  goose  was  representative  of  the  safety  of  Rome. 

4  The  Sarmatian  war  did  not  last  eight  months. 

5  It  was  a  good  omen  when  the  victim  went  willingly  to 
the  sacrifice. 

93 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

hanc  volo  quam  redimit  totam  denarius  alter, 
hanc  volo  quae  pariter  sufficit  una  tribus. 

poscentem  nummos  et  grandia  verba  sonantem          5 
possideat  crassae  mentula  Burdigalae. 

XXXIII 

AUDIERIS  in  quo,  Flacce,  balneo  plausum, 
Maronis  illic  esse  mentulam  scito. 

XXXIV 

IUPPITER  Idaei  risit  mendacia  busti, 

dum  videt  August!  Flavia  templa  poli, 
atque  inter  mensas  largo  iam  nectare  fusus, 

pocula  cum  Marti  traderet  ipse  suo, 
respiciens  Phoebum  pariter  Phoebique  sororem,         5 

cum  quibus  Alcides  et  pius  Areas  erat, 
"  Gnosia  vos"  inquit  "nobis  monumenta  dedistis  : 

cernite  quam  plus  sit  Caesaris  esse  patrem." 

XXXV 

ARTIBUS  his  semper  cenam,  Philomuse,  mereris, 
plurima  dum  fingis,  sed  quasi  vera  refers. 

scis  quid  in  Arsacia  Pacorus  deliberet  aula, 
Rhenanam  numeras  Sarmaticamque  manum, 

1  Such  women  were  called  diobolarea  (worth  two  obols)  : 
Plaut.  Poen.  i.  ii.  58  ;  and  associated  with  slaves.  Plant. 
(ibid.  53)  thus  calls  them  servilicolas  sordidas. 

94 


BOOK   IX.  xxxn-xxxv 

her  favours  to  my  slave ;  her  I  wish  for  whom  a 
second  sixpence  purchases  altogether ; l  her  I  wish 
for  whose  single  self  suffices  three  lovers  at  once. 
One  who  demands  moneys,  and  who  talks  in  a  big 
style,  the  stupid  Gascon  may  possess. 


XXXIII 

IN  whatever  bath,  Flaccus,  you  hear  sounds  re- 
sembling applause,  know  that  there  Maron's  yard  is 
to  be  found. 

XXXIV 

JUPITER  laughed  at  the  lying  tale  of  his  tomb  on 
Ida  as  he  looked  on  the  Flavian  temple  of  the 
Augustan  heaven ; 2  and  amid  the  feast  when  now 
full  steeped  in  nectar,  as  with  his  own  hand  he 
passed  to  Mars  his  son  the  beaker,  looking  back  to 
Phoebus  and  Phoebus'  sister  side  by  side,  with  whom 
were  Alcides  and  the  leal  Arcadian  god,3  he  said: 
"  Ye  have  given  me  a  monument  at  Gnossos :  ye 
see  how  much  more  it  is  to  be  Caesar's  sire  !  " 


XXXV 

BY  such  arts  as  these,  Philomusus,  you  always 
earn  your  dinner :  you  invent  much  and  retail  it 
as  truth.  You  know  what  counsel  Pacorus 4  takes 
in  his  Arsacian  palace ;  you  estimate  the  Rhenish 

*  cf.  ix.  iii.  12. 

3  Hercules  and  Mercury  respectively. 

4  King  of  Parthia,  Rome's  great  rival  in  the  East. 

95 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

verba  ducis  Daci  chartis  mandata  resignas,  5 

victricem  laurum  quam  venit  ante  vides, 
scis  quotiens  Phario  madeat  love  fusca  Syene, 

scis  quota  de  Libyco  litore  puppis  eat, 
cuius  luleae  capiti  nascantur  olivae, 

destinet  aetherius  cui  sua  serta  pater.  10 

tolle  tuas  artes ;  hodie  cenabis  apud  me 

hac  lege,  ut  narres  nil,  Philomuse,  novi. 

XXXVI 

VIDERAT  Ausonium  posito-  modo  crine  ministrum 

Phryx  puer,  alterius  gaudia  nota  lovis : 
"  Quod  tuus  ecce  suo  Caesar  permisit  ephebo 

tu  permitte  tuo,  maxime  rector"  ait. 
"iam  mihi  prima  latet  longis  lanugo  capillis,  p 

iam  tua  me  ridet  luno  vocatque  virum." 
cui  pater  aetherius  "  Puer  o  dulcissime,"  dixit 

"  non  ego  quod  poscis,  res  negat  ipsa  tibi : 
Caesar  habet  noster  similis  tibi  mille  ministros 

tantaque  sidereos  vix  capit  aula  mares;  10 

at  tibi  si  dederit  vultus  coma  tonsa  viriles, 

quis  mihi  qui.  nectar  misceat  alter  erit?  " 

XXXVII 

CUM  sis  ipsa  domi  mediaque  ornere  Subura, 
fiant  absentes  et  tibi,  Galla,  comae, 

1  i.e.  you  know  whether  corn,  which  comes  from  Egypt 
and  Libya,  is  likely  to  be  plentiful. 

2  cf.  ix.  xxiii.  1.  3  r/.  ix.  xxiii.  5. 

96 


BOOK    IX.  xxxv-xxxvn 

and  Sarmatiaii  armies ;  the  orders  of  Dacia's  com- 
mander, committed  to  despatches,  you  unseal ;  vic- 
tory's laurel  ere  it  arrives  you  see ;  you  know  how 
often  dusky  Syene  is  drenched  by  Egypt's  showers  ; 
you  know  how  many  ships  set  sail  from  Libya's 
shore ; l  for  whose  brow  are  growing  Julian  olives,2 
for  whom  Heaven's  father  designs  his  chaplets.3  A 
truce  to  your  arts  !  To-day  you  shall  dine  at  my 
house  on  this  condition,  Philomusus,  that  you  tell 
me  no  news  !  4 

XXXVI 

THE  Phrygian  boy,5  famed  darling  of  the  other 
Jove,  had  seen  Ausonia's  cupbearer  6  with  locks 
lately  shorn,  and  said :  "  What  thy  Caesar,  behold, 
has  allowed  his  young  attendant,  that  do  thou,  al- 
mighty ruler,  allow  thy  own.  Already  early  down 
lies  hid  by  my  long  hair,  already  thy  Juno  laughs  at 
me  and  calls  me  man."  To  whom  Heaven's  sire  : 
"O  sweetest  boy,"  he  said,  "'tis  not  I  refuse  thy 
asking  :  'tis  very  need  refuses  thee.  My  Caesar  hath 
a  thousand  servants  like  to  thee,  and  his  hall,  mighty 
as  it  is,  scarce  holds  his  youths  divinely  fair.  But  if 
shorn  hair  shall  give  thee  face  of  man,  what  other 
shall  there  be  to  mix  nectar  for  me  ?  " 


XXXVII 

ALTHOUGH,  yourself  at  home,  you  are  arrayed  in 
the  middle  of  the  Subura,  and  your  tresses,  Galla, 

4  cf.  a  similar  description  of  a  woman  in  Juv.  vi.  398-412. 

5  Ganymede. 

6  Earinos  :  cf.  ix.  xi.  to  xiii. ;  and,  as  to  the  cutting  of  the 
hair,  ix.  xvi.  and  xvii. 

97 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

nee  denies  aliter  quam  Serica  nocte  reponas, 

et  iaceas  centum  condita  pyxidibus, 
nee  tecum  facies  tua  dormiat,  innuis  illo  5 

quod  tibi  prolatum  est  mane  supercilio, 
et  te  nulla  movet  cani  reverentia  cunni, 

quem  potes  inter  avos  iam  numerare  tuos. 
promittis  sescenta  tamen  ;  sed  mentula  surda  est, 

et  sit  lusca  licet,  te  tamen  ilia  videt.  10 

XXXVIII 

SUMMA  licet  velox,  Agathine,  pericula  Indus, 

non  tamen  efficies  ut  tibi  parma  cadat. 
nolentem  sequitur  tenuisque  reversa  per  auras 

vel  pede  vel  tergo,  crine  vel  ungue  sedet ; 
lubrica  Corycio  quamvis  sint  pulpita  ninibo  5 

et  rapiant  celeres  vela  negata  Noti, 
secures  pueri  neglecta  perambulat  artus, 

et  nocet  artifici  ventus  et  unda  nihil. 
ut  peccare  velis,  cum  feceris  omnia,  falli 

non  potes:  arte  opus  est  ut  tibi  parma  cadat.       10 

XXXIX 

PRIMA  Palatine  lux  est  haec  orta  TonantL 
optasset  Cybele  qua  peperrsse  lovem  ; 

hac  et  sancta  mei  genita  est  Caesonia  Rufi  : 
plus  debet  matri  nulla  puella  suae. 

1  An  epigram  on  a  juggler  tossing  a  shield.     A  mistake, 
says  M.,  is  impossible,  unless  intended. 

98 


BOOK    IX.  xxxvn-xxxix 

are  manufactured  far  away,  and  you  lay  aside  your 
teeth  at  night,  just  as  you  do  your  silk  dresses,  and 
you  lie  stored  away  in  a  hundred  caskets, and  your  face 
does  not  sleep  with  you — yet  you  wink  with  that 
eyebrow  which  has  been  brought  out  for  you  in  the 
morning,  and  no  respect  moves  you  for  your  outworn 
carcass — which  you  may  now  count  as  one  of  your 
ancestors.  Nevertheless  you  offer  me  an  infinity 
of  delights.  But  Nature  is  deaf,  and  although  she 
may  be  one-eyed,  she  sees  you  anyhow. 

XXXVIII 

ALTHOUGH,  Agathinus,  you  deftly  play  a  game  of 
highest  risk,  yet  you  will  not  achieve  the  falling  of 
your  buckler.1  Though  you  avoid  it,  it  follows  you, 
and,  returning  through  the  yielding  air,  settles  on 
foot  or  back,  on  hair  or  finger-tip.  However 
slippery  is  the  stage  with  a  Corycian  saffron-shower, 
and  although  rushing  winds  tear  at  the  awning  that 
cannot  be  spread,  the  buckler,  though  disregarded, 
pervades  the  boy's  careless  limbs,  and  wind  and 
shower  baffle  the  artist  no  whit.  Although  you  try 
to  miss,  do  what  you  will,  you  cannot  be  foiled : 
art  is  needed  to  make  your  buckler  fall. 

XXXIX 

THIS  day  was  the  first  that  dawned  upon  the 
Thunderer  of  the  Palatine,2  a  day  whereon  Cybele 
would  have  chosen  to  bring  forth  Jove  ;  on  this  day, 
too,  was  born  Caesonia,  my  Rufus'  3  wife  revered : 
no  maid  owes  to  her  mother  more  than  she.  Her 

2  Domitiaii,  born  Oct.  24. 

3  Canius  Rufus,  the  poet  of  Gades :  cf.  i.  Ixi.  9 ;  in.  xx. 

99 
H   2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

laetatur  gemina  votorum  sorte  maritus,  5 

contigit  hunc  illi  quod  bis  amare  diem. 

XL 

TARPEIAS  Diodorus  ad  coronas 

Romam  cum  peteret  Pharo  relicta, 

vovit  pro  reditu  viri  Philaenis 

illam  lingeret,  ut  puella  simplex, 

quam  castae  quoque  diligunt  Sabinae.  5 

dispersa  rate  tristibus  procellis 

mersus  fluctibus  obrutusque  ponto 

ad  votum  Diodorus  enatavit. 

o  tardus  nimis  et  piger  maritus  ! 

hoc  in  litore  si  puella  votum  10 

fecisset  mea,  protinus  redissem. 

» 

XLI 

PONTICE,  quod  numquam  futuis,  sed  paelice  laeva 

uteris  et  Veneri  servit  arnica  manus, 
hoc  nihil  esse  putas  ?  scelus  est,  mihi  crede,  sed  ingens, 

quantum  vix  animo  concipis  ipse  tuo. 
nempe  semel  futuit,  generaret  Horatius  ut  tres ;       5 

Mars  semel,  ut  geminos  Ilia  casta  daret. 
omnia  perdiderat  si  masturbatus  uterque 

mandasset  manibus  gaudia  foeda  suis. 
ipsam  crede  tibi  naturam  dicere  rerum 

"Istud  quod  digitis,  Pontice,  perdis,  homo  est."   10 


100 


BOOK   IX.  XXXIX-XLI 

spouse  rejoices  in  a  twofold  granting  of  prayer : 
this  day  it  has  fallen  to  him  to  cherish  with  a 
double  love. 

XL 

* 

WHEN  Diodorus,  leaving  Egypt,  was  travelling  to 
Rome  to  receive  the  Tarpeian  crown,1  Philaenis  made 
a  vow  for  the  return  of  her  husband  that,  as  an 
innocent  girl,  she  would  put  her  lips  to  what  2  even 
chaste  Sabine  women  love.  His  ship  shattered  by 
grim  tempests,  though  plunged  in  the  waves,  and 
o'erwhelmed  by  the  deep,  Diodorus,  to  claim  the 
vow,  swam  safe  to  land.  Oh,  what  a  very  tardy  and 
sluggish  husband !  If  girl  of  mine  had  made  this 
vow  on  the  shore,  I  should  have  returned  at  once  !  3 


XLI 

O  PONTICO,  il  perche  tu  mai  immembri,  ma  usi 
1'adultera  tua  sinistra,  e  1'amica  mano  serve  a  Ve- 
nere,  pensi  tu  che  ci6  sia  niente  ?  E  una  scele- 
ragine,  credimi,  ma  si  grande  e  tale,  che  appena  tu 
stesso  la  concepisci  nell'animo  tuo.  In  fatti  Orazio 
immembr6  una  volta  sola  perche  generasse  tre  fig- 
liuoli ;  Marte  una  volta  perche  la  casta  Ilia  dasse  i 
gemelli.  L'uno  e  1'altro  avrebbe  distrutto  ogni  cosa 
se  quel  masturbatore  avesse  abbandonato  i  sozzi 
piaceri  alle  sue  mani.  Credi  che  la  natura  stessa 
delle  cose  ti  dice :  "  ci6  che,  O  Pontico,  distruggi 
colle  dita  e  un  uomo." 

1  cf.  ix.  xxiii.  5.  2  i.e.  mentulam. 

3  Without  embarking  from  Egypt  at  all. 

101 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

XLII 

CAMPIS  dives  Apollo  sic  Myrinis, 

sic  semper  senibus  fruare  cycnis, 

doctae  sic  tibi  serviant  sorores 

nee  Delphis  tua  mentiatur  ulli, 

sic  Palatia  te  colant  amentque  :  5 

bis  senos  cito  te  rogante  fasces 

det  Stellae  bonus  adnuatque  Caesar. 

felix  tune  ego  debitorque  voti 

casurum  tibi  rusticas  ad  aras 

ducam  cornibus  aureis  iuvencum.  10 

iiata  est  hostia,  Phoebe  ;  quid  moraris  ? 

XLIII 

Hie  qui  dura  sedens  porrecto  saxa  leone 

mitigat,  exiguo  magnus  in  acre  deus, 
quaeque  tulit  spectat  resupino  sidera  vultu, 

cuius  laeva  calet  robore,  dextra  mero, 
non  est  fama  recens  nee  nostri  gloria  caeli ;  5 

nobile  Lysippi  munus  opusque  vides. 
hoc  habuit  numen  Pellaei  mensa  tyranni, 

qui  cito  perdomito  victor  in  orbe  iacet ; 
hunc  puer  ad  Libycas  iuraverat  Hannibal  aras ; 

iusserat  hie  Sullam  ponere  regna  trucem.  10 

offensus  variae  tumidis  terroribus  aulae 

privates  gaudet  nunc  habitare  lares, 

1  A  town  in  Mysia,  in  Asia  Minor.     In  the  neighbourhood 
was  Grynium  with  a  temple  of  Apollo. 

2  i.e.  in  vocal  swans.     Swans  were  supposed  to  sing  just 
before  death  :  cf.  xm.  Ixxvii.  3  The  Muses. 

4  The  insignia  of  the  consul :  cf.  viu.  Ixvi.  3. 

5  Hercules  for  a  time  took  the  place  of  Atlas  in  upholding 
the  sky  :  cf.  vn.  Ixxiv.  6. 

IO2 


BOOK    IX.  XLII-XLIII 

XLII 

So  mayst  thou,  Apollo,  be  rich  in  plains  of  My- 
rina,1  so  mayst  thou  alway  delight  in  hoary  swans,2 
so  may  thy  learned  Sisters 3  serve  thee,  and  thy 
Delphic  priestess  speak  not  falsely  to  any  man ;  so 
may  the  Palace  court  and  love  thee,  if,  at  thy  asking, 
our  kindly  Caesar's  nod  give  quickly  to  Stella  the 
twice  six  axes.4  Then  I,  happy,  and  a  debtor  for  my 
vow,  will  bring  thee  a  victim  to  thy  rustic  altar,  a 
steer  with  gold-gilt  horns.  The  offering  is  born, 
Phoebus  :  why  dost  thou  delay  ? 


XLIII 

HE  who  seated  makes  softer  the  hard  stones  by  a 
stretched  lion's  skin,  a  huge  god  in  small  shape  of 
bronze,  and  who,  with  face  upturned,  regards  the 
stars  he  shouldered,5  whose  left  hand  is  aglow  with 
strength,  his  right  with  wine 6 — no  recent  work  of 
fame  is  he,  nor  the  glory  of  Roman  chisel :  Lysip- 
pus'  noble  gift  and  handiwork  you  see."  This  deity 
the  board  of  Pella's  tyrant  displayed,  he  who  lies 
in  a  world  he  swiftly  subdued ; 8  by  him  Hannibal, 
then  a  boy,  swore  at  Libyan  altars ; 9  he  bade  fierce 
Sulla  resign  his  power.  Vexed  by  the  boastful  threats 
of  fickle  courts,  he  is  glad  now  to  dwell  beneath  a 

6  He  has  a  club  in  one  hand,  a  wine-cup  in  the  other. 

7  This  and  the  following  epigram  are  on  a  statue  by  Lysip- 
pus,  a  contemporary  of  Alexander  the  Great,  of  Hercules 
reclining  at  the  banquet  of  the  gods  (epitrnpezius).     Statins 
(Sylv.  iv.  vi. )  has  a  poem  on  the  same  subject. 

8  Alexander  the  Great. 

9  H.  when  a  boy  swore  undying  hatred  to  Rome. 

103 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

utque  fuit  quondam  placidi  conviva  Molorchi, 
sic  voluit  docti  Vindicis  esse  deus. 

XLIV 

ALCIDES  modo  Vindiceni  rogabam 

esset  cuius  opus  laborque  felix. 

risit,  nam  solet  hoc,  levique  nutu 

"  Graece  numquid  "  ait  "  poeta  nescis  ? 

inscripta  est  basis  indicatque  nomen."  5 

AwriWov  lego,  Phidiae  putavi. 

XLV 

MILES  Hyperboreos  modo,  Marcelline,  triones 

et  Getici  tuleras  sidera  pigra  poli : 
ecce  Promethei  rupes  et  fabula  montis 

quam  prope  sunt  oculis  nunc  adeunda  tuis ! 
videris  inmensis  cum  conclamata  querellis  5 

saxa  senis,  dices  "  Durior  ipse  fuit." 
et  licet  haec  addas  :  "  Potuit  qui  talia  ferre, 

humanum  merito  finxerat  ille  genus." 

XLVI 

GELLIUS  aedificat  semper  :  modo  limina  ponit, 
nunc  foribus  claves  aptat  emitque  seras, 

nunc  has,  nunc  illas  reficit  mutatque  fenestras  : 
dum  tantum  aedificet,  quidlibet  ille  facit, 

oranti  nummos  ut  dicere  possit  amico  5 

unum  illud  verbum  Gellius  "  Aedifico." 

1  The  shepherd  who  entertained  him  unawares :    cf.   iv. 
Ixiv.  30. 

2  Prometheus,    according  to  myth,   moulded  man  out  of 
qlay  (cf.  x.  xxxix.  4),  giving  them  the  qualities  of  various 

104 


BOOK    IX.  XUII-XLVI 

private  roof;  and,  as  he  was  of  old  the  guest  of 
gentle  Molorchus,1  so  has  he  now  chosen  to  be  the 
god  of  learned  Vindex. 

XLIV 

I  ASKED  Vindex  lately  whose  art  and  happy  toil 
fashioned  Alcides.  He  laughed — for  this  is  his  way 
— and  slightly  nodding,  said:  "Don't  you,  a  poet, 
know  your  Greek  ?  The  base  has  an  inscription  and 
shows  the  name."  I  read  "of  Lysippus  "  :  I  thought 
it  was  of  Phidias  ! 

XLV 

A  SOLDIER,  Marcellinus,  you  had  endured  of  late 
the  cold  of  the  Northern  Wain,  and  the  slow-circling 
stars  of  Getic  skies :  behold,  how  near  the  compass 
of  your  eyes  are  now  Prometheus'  crag,  and  the 
fabled  mount !  When  you  shall  have  seen  the  rocks 
that  echoed  of  old  with  his  groans,  you  will  say, 
"  He  himself  was  harder  still."  And  this  you  may 
add :  "  He  who  could  endure  such  things  was  fit  to 
mould  the  race  of  man."  2 

XLVI 

GELLIUS  is  always  building :  now  he  lays  down 
thresholds,  now  he  fits  keys  to  doors  and  buys  bolts, 
now  these,  now  those  windows  he  repairs  and  alters ; 
provided  only  he  be  building,3  Gellius  does  anything 
whatever,  that  to  a  friend  who  asks  for  money  he 
may  be  able  to  say  that  one  word  :  "Building." 

animals :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  i.  xvi.  13.  Credulity  in  later  times 
saw  in  stones  at  Panope  in  Phocis  (still  smelling  of  human 
flesh  !)  the  remnants  of  P.  clay :  Paus.  x.  iv.  3. 

3  Friedlander  punctuates  "fenestras,  ,  .  .  aedificet.  Quid- 
tibf.t  .  .  .  facit" 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

XLVII 

DEMOCRITOS,  Zenonas  inexplicitosque  Platonas 

quidquid  et  hirsutis  squalet  imaginibus, 
sic  quasi  Pythagorae  loqueris  successor  et  heres ; 

praependet  sane  nee  tibi  barba  minor : 
sed,  quod  et  hircosis  serum  est  et  turpe  pilosis,      -  5 

in  molli  rigidam  clune  libenter  habes. 
tu,  qui  sectarum  causas  et  pondera  nosti, 

die  mihi,  percidi,  Pannyche,  dogma  quod  est  ? 

XLVIII 

HEREDEM  cum  me  partis  tibi,  Garrice,  quartae 

per  tua  iurares  sacra  caputque  tuum, 
credidimus  (quis  enim  damnet  sua  vota  libenter?) 

et  spem  muneribus  fovimus  usque  datis ; 
inter  quae  rari  Laurentem  ponderis  aprum  5 

misimus  :  Aetola  de  Calydone  putes. 
at  tu  continue  populumque  patresque  vocasti ; 

ructat  adhuc  aprum  pallida l  Roma  meum  : 
ipse  ego  (quis  credat  ?)  conviva  nee  ultimus  haesi, 

sed  nee  costa  data  est  caudave  missa  mihi.  10 

de  quadrante  tuo  quid  sperem,  Garrice  ?     nulla 

de  nostro  nobis  uncia  venit  apro. 

XLIX 

HAEC  est  ilia  meis  multum  cantata  libellis, 
quam  meus  edidicit  lector  amatque  togam. 

1  pallida  Dousa,  callida  codd. 
106 


BOOK    IX.  XLVII-XLIX 

XLVII 

OF  Democrituses,  Zenos,  and  enigmatic  Platos,  and 
of  every  philosopher  shown,  dirty  and  hirsute,  on  a 
bust,  you  prate  as  if  you  were  successor  and  heir  of 
Pythagoras  ;  and  before  your  chin  hangs  a  beard  cer- 
tainly no  less  than  theirs.  Ma  cid  che  tardi  si  senti 
agli  ircosi,  e  turpemente  ai  pelosi,  tu  volontieri  lo 
comporti  rigido  nelle  effeminate  coscie.  You,  who 
know  the  origins  of  the  schools  and  their  argu- 
ments, tell  me  this :  what  dogma,  Pannychus,  is  it 
to  be  a  pathic  ? 

XLVIII 

SEEING  that  you  swore,  Garricus,  by  your  sacred 
rites  and  by  your  head,  that  I  was  heir  to  a  quarter 
of  your  estate,  I  believed  you — for  who  would 
willingly  damn  his  own  wishes  ? — and  I  kept  warm 
my  hope  by  continual  presents,  among  which  I 
sent  you  a  Laurentian  boar  of  unusual  weight :  you 
would  imagine  it  came  from  Aetolian  Calydon.1 
But  you  at  once  invited  both  people  and  Senate ;  a 
bilious  Rome  is  still  belching  my  boar.  I  myself — 
who  could  believe  it  ? — was  not  added  even  as  your 
last  guest,  aye,  and  not  even  a  rib  was  given  me  or 
tail  sent  me.  Concerning  that  quarter-estate  of  yours, 
what  should  I  expect,  Garricus  ?  Not  a  twelfth  of 
my  own  boar  came  to  me ! 

XLIX 

THIS  is  that  toga  much  sung  of  in  my  poems,  which 
my  reader  has  heard  of  to  the  full,  and  loves.2 

1  i.e.  it  was  as  huge  as  the  boar  slain  by  Meleager  :  cf. 
vn.  xxvii.  2.  2  cf.  vin.  xxviii. 

107 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

Partheniana  fuit  quondam,  memorabile  vatis 

munus  :  in  hac  ibam  conspiciendus  eques, 
dum  nova,  dum  nitida  fulgebat  splendida  lana,          5 

dumque  erat  auctoris  nomine  digna  sui : 
nunc  anus  et  tremulo  vix  accipienda  tribuli, 

quam  possis  niveam  dicere  iure  tuo. 
quid  non  longa  dies,  quid  non  consumitis  anni  ? 

haec  toga  iam  non  est  Partheniana,  mea  est.        10 


INGENIUM  mihi,  Gaure,  probas  sic  esse  pusillum, 
carmina  quod  faciam  quae  brevitate  placent. 

confiteor.     sed  tu  bis  senis  grandia  libris 
qui  scribis  Priami  proelia,  magnus  homo  es  ? 

nos  facimus  Bruti  puerum,  nos  Langona  vivum  :        5 
tu  magnus  luteum,  Gaure,  Giganta  facis. 

LI 

QUOD  semper  superos  invito  fratre  rogasti, 

hoc,  Lucane,  tibi  contigit,  ante  mori. 
invidet  ille  tibi ;  Stygias  nam  Tullus  ad  umbras 

optabat,  quamvis  sit  minor,  ire  prior, 
tu  colis  Elysios  nemorisque  habitator  amoeni  5 

esse  tuo  primum  nunc  sine  fratre  cupis ; 
et  si  iam  nitidis  alternus  venit  ab  astris 

pro  Polluce,  mones  Castora  ne  redeat. 

1  Parthenius  (himself  a  poet :  cf.  XI.  i.)  was  Domitian's 
secretary,  his  name  being  derived  from  -xapBtvos  (virgin),  on 
which  M.  plays.     The  cloak  was  once  young  and  unspotted  : 
now  it  is  old. 

2  i.e.  threadbare,  and  therefore  chill :  cf.  iv.  xxxiv.  2. 

3  It  befits  my  poverty. 

1 08 


BOOK    IX.  xLix-i.i 

Parthenian  was  it  once,  a  bard's  memorable  gift:1  in 
this  I  went  conspicuous  as  a  knight,  while  it  was  new, 
while  it  brightly  shone  with  glossy  wool,  and  while 
it  was  worthy  of  its  giver's  name.  Now  it  is  an  old 
crone,  and  one  scarcely  to  be  accepted  by  a  dodder- 
ing pauper,  which  you  may  without  contradiction 
call  "snowy."2  What  does  not  length  of  days,  what 
do  ye  not  consume,  ye  years  ?  This  toga  is  no  longer 
Parthenian  :  it  is  mine.3 


You  prove  to  me,  Gaurus,  that  my  genius  is  in  this 
way  a  puny  one,  because  I  make  poems  that  please 
by  their  brevity.  I  confess  it.  But  you,  who  in 
twice  six  books  write  of  Priam's  wars  in  grand  style, 
are  you  a  great  man  ?  I  make  Brutus'  boy,4  I  make 
Langon  live  :  you,  great  man  as  you  are,  Gaurus, 
make  a  giant  of  clay. 

LI 

WHAT  thou  didst  alway  crave  of  the  High  Gods, 
though  thy  brother  said  nay,  this  has  fallen  to  thee, 
Lucanus — the  earlier  death.  He  envies  thee ;  for 
Tullus  longed,  though  younger  than  thou,  to  go 
before  thee  to  the  Stygian  shades.  Thou  dwellest 
in  Elysian  fields,  and,  denizen  of  that  pleasant  grove, 
now  for  the  first  time  desirest  to  be  without  thy 
brother ;  and,  if  Castor 5  has  now  come  alternate 
from  the  lustrous  stars  in  Pollux'  stead,  thou  dost 
counsel  him  not  to  return  again.6 

4  A  statuette  admired  by  Brutus,  the  assassin  of  Caesar  : 
cf.  II.  Ixxvii.  4.  Of  Langon  nothing  is  known. 

6  cf.  I.  xxxvi.  2. 

6  Another  punctuation  is  a  comma  after  astri*  and  none 
after  Polluce.  Alternus  would  then  refer  to  Pollux,  and  not 
Castor. 

109 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

LII 

Si  credis  mihi,  Quinte,  quod  mereris, 

natalis,  Ovidi,  tuas  Aprilis 

ut  nostras  amo  Martias  Kalendas. 

felix  utraque  lux  diesque  nobis 

signandi  melioribus  lapillis  !  5 

hie  vitam  tribuit  sed  hie  amicum. 

plus  dant,  Quinte,  mihi  tuae  Kalendae. 

LIII 

NATALI  tibi,  Quinte,  tuo  dare  parva  volebam 
munera;  tu  prohibes  :  .inperiosus  homo  es. 

parendum  est  monitis,  fiat  quod  uterque  volemus 
et  quod  utrumque  iuvat :  tu  mihi,  Quinte,  dato. 

LIV 

Si  mihi  Picena  turdus  palleret  oliva, 

tenderet  aut  nostras  silva  Sabina  plagas, 
aut  crescente  levis  traheretur  harundine  praeda, 

pinguis  et  iriplicitas  virga  teneret  avis, 
Care,  daret  sollemne  tibi  cognatio  munus  5 

nee  frater  nobis  nee  prior  esset  avus. 
nunc  sturnos  inopes  fringillorumque  querellas 

audit  et  arguto  passere  veriiat  ager ; 
inde  salutatus  picae  respondet  arator, 

hinc  prope  summa  rapax  milvus  ad  astra  volat.    10 

1  M.'s  friend  and  neighbour  at  Nomentum  :  cf.  vu.  xciii. 
He  addresses  to  him  vu.  xliv.  and  xlv.,  and  the  following 
epigram. 

°2  A  cane  smeared  with  birdlime,  which  could  be  elongated 
like  a  fishing-rod  :  cf.  xiv.  ccxviii. 

no 


BOOK    IX.  LII-LIV 

LII 

IF  you  believe  me,  Quintus  Ovidius,1  the  kalends 
of  your  natal  April  I  love — 'tis  your  desert — as  much 
as  my  own  of  March.  Happy  is  either  morn !  and 
days  are  they  to  be  marked  by  us  with  fairer  stones. 
One  gave  me  life,  but  the  other  a  friend.  Your 
kalends,  Quintus,  give  me  the  more. 


LIII 

ON  your  birthday,  Quintus,  I  was  wishing  to  give 
you  a  small  present ;  you  forbid  me ;  you  are  an 
imperious  person !  I  must  obey  your  monition.  Let 
be  done  what  both  of  us  wish,  and  what  pleases 
both.  Do  you,  Quintus,  make  me  a  present ! 

LIV 

IF  fieldfares  were  fattened  for  me  on  Picenian 
olives,  or  Sabine  woodland  saw  my  gins  stretched 
out,  or  a  fluttering  prey  were  drawn  down  by  the 
lengthening  reed,2  and  a  limed  rod  held  fast  the 
entangled  birds,  Carus,  my  kinship  3  would  give  you 
the  customary  offering,  and  neither  brother  nor 
grandsire  would  come  before  you.  As  it  is,  my  fields 
listen  only  to  useless  starlings  and  the  plaint  of 
chaffinches,  and  are  vernal  with  the  shrill  sparrow ; 
on  that  side  the  ploughman  answers  the  magpie's 
call ;  on  this,  hard  by,  the  ravening  kite  towers  to 

3  On  Feb.  22  was  held  the  festival  of  the  Caristia,  when 
relations  met  and  interchanged  presents  and  arranged  differ- 
ences. It  was  a  kind  of  family  love-feast:  cf.  Ov.  Fast. 
ii.  617  ;  Val.  Max.  n.  i.  8. 

Ill 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

mittimus  ergo  tibi  parvae  munuscula  chortis, 
qualia  si  recipis,  saepe  propinquus  eris. 

LV 

LUCE  propinquorum,  qua  plurima  mittitur  ales, 

dum  Stellae  turdos,  dum  tibi,  Flacce,  paro, 
succurrit  nobis  ingens  onerosaque  turba, 

in  qua  se  primum  quisque  meumque  putat. 
demeruisse  duos  votum  est ;  offendere  plures  5 

vix  tutum ;  multis  mittere  dona  grave  est. 
qua  possum  sola  veniam  ratione  merebor : 

nee  Stellae  turdos  nee  tibi,  Flacce,  dabo. 

LVI 

SPENDOPHOROS  Libycas  domini  petit  armiger  urbis  : 

quae  puero  dones  tela,  Cupido,  para, 
ilia  quibus  iuvenes  figis  mollesque  puellas : 

sit  tamen  in  tenera  levis  et  hasta  manu. 
loricam  clipeumque  tibi  galeamque  remitto ;  5 

tutus  ut  invadat  proelia,  nudus  eat : 
non  iaculo,  non  ense  fuit  laesusve  sagitta, 

casside  dum  liber  Parthenopaeus  erat. 
quisquis  ab  hoc  fuerit  fixus  morietur  amore. 

0  felix,  si  quern  tarn  bona  fata  manent !  1 0 
dum  puer  es,  redeas,  dum  vultu  lubricus,  et  te 

non  Libye  faciat,  sed  tua  Roma  virum. 

1  See  note  to  preceding  epigram. 

-  Stella,  the  poet  mentioned  in  I.  vii.  and  other  epigrams, 
and  (perhaps)  Valerius  Flaccus,  the  author  of  the  epic  poem, 
the  Argonautica. 

112 


BOOK    IX.  LIV-LVI 

the  lofty  stars.  So  I  send  you  the  small  tributes  of 
my  scanty  poultry-yard ;  if  you  accept  such  things, 
you  shall  often  be  my  kinsman. 

LV 

ON  Kinsmen's  Day,1  when  many  a  fowl  is  de- 
spatched, while  I  was  preparing  to  send  fieldfares 
to  Stella,  while  also  to  you,  Flaccus,2  there  came 
to  my  mind  a  big  and  burdensome  crowd,  of  which 
each  one  thinks  himself  the  chief,  and  my  particular 
friend.  To  oblige  two  is  my  wish ;  to  offend  more 
is  hardly  safe ;  to  despatch  gifts  to  many  is  a  heavy 
charge.  In  the  only  way  I  can  I  will  earn  their 
pardon :  neither  to  Stella,  nor  to  you,  Flaccus,  will 
I  give  fieldfares. 

LVI 

SPENDOPHORUS  goes,  his  master's  armour-bearer,  to 
Libyan  cities :  get  ready  the  shafts,  Cupid,  to  give 
the  boy — those  wherewith  thou  dost  pierce  youths 
and  soft  girls ;  yet  in  his  tender  hand  let  there  be  a 
smooth  spear  too.  Cuirass  and  shield  and  helm  I 
leave  to  thee ;  that  he  may  plunge  amid  the  war 
unscathed  let  him  go  bare  ;  by  no  javelin,  by  no 
sjrtord  or  arrow  was  Parthenopaeus  3  hurt  when  he 
•was  not  disguised  by  a  casque.  Whoever  shall  be 
pierced  by  this  boy  shall  perish  of  love — oh,  happy 
he,  over  whoever  so  fair  a  fate  impends  !  While  thou 
art  boy,  return,  while  thy  face  is  perilously  bright ; 4 
and  thee  let  not  Libya,  but  thy  Rome,  make  man  ! 

3  A  young  and  handsome  Greek  warrior,  one  of  the  "  Seven 
against  Thebes  "  :  cf.  \i.  Ixxvii.  2 ;  x.  iv.  3. 

4  A  reminiscence  of  Hor.  Od.  i.  xix.  8  :  et  mdtun  nimium 
lubriciis  aspici. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LVII 

NIL  est  tritius  Hedyli  lacernis  : 

non  ansae  veterum  Corinthiorum, 

nee  crus  compede  lubricum  decenni, 

nee  ruptae  recutita  colla  mulae, 

nee  quae  Flaminiani  secant  salebrae,  5 

nee  qui  litoribus  nitent  lapilli, 

nee  Tusca  ligo  vinea  politus, 

nee  pallens  toga  mortui  tribulis, 

nee  pigri  rota  quassa  mulionis, 

nee  rasum  cavea  latus  visontis,  10 

nee  dens  iam  senior  ferocis  apri. 

res  una  est  tamen  (ipse  non  negabit) 

culus  tritior  Hedyli  lacernis. 

LVIII 

NYMPHA  sacri  regina  lacus,  cui  grata  Sabinus 

et  mansura  pio  munere  templa  dedit, 
sic  montana  tuos  semper  colat  Umbria  foutes 

nee  tua  Baianas  Sassina  inalit  aquas, 
excipe  sollicitos  placide,  mea  dona,  libellos  ;  5 

tu  fueris  Musis  Pegasis  unda  meis. 
"  Nympharum  templis  quisquis  sua  carmina  donat, 

quid  fieri  libris  debeat,  ipse  docet."  ^ 

LIX 

IN  Saeptis  Mamurra  diu  multumque  vagatus, 
hie  ubi  Roma  suas  aurea  vexat  opes, 

1  The  slower  the  progress,  the  greater  would  be  the  friction 
of  the  wheel,  and  its  polish. 

2  Caesius  Sabinus,  of   Sassina,   in  Umbria,   to  whom  M. 
presented  his  seventh  book :  cf.  vu.  xcvii.     In  ix.  Ix.   he 
sends  him  a  wreath  of  roses. 

114 


BOOK    IX.  LVII-LIX 

LVII 

NOTHING  is  worn  smoother  than  Hedylus'  mantles: 
not  the  handles  of  antique  Corinthian  vases,  nor  a 
shank  polished  by  a  ten-years-worn  fetter,  nor  the 
scarred  neck  of  a  broken-winded  mule,  nor  the  ruts 
that  intersect  the  Flaminian  Way,  nor  the  pebbles 
that  shine  on  the  sea  beach,  nor  a  hoe  polished  by  a 
Tuscan  vineyard,  nor  the  shiny  toga  of  a  defunct 
pauper,  nor  the  ramshackle  wheel  of  a  lazy  l  carrier, 
nor  a  bison's  flank  scraped  by  its  cage,  nor  the  tusk, 
now  aged,  of  a  fierce  boar.  Yet  there  is  one  thing  — 
he  himself  will  not  deny  it  :  Hedylus'  rump  is  worn 
smoother  than  his  mantle. 

LVIII 

NYMPH,  Queen  of  the  sacred  mere,  to  whom  Sa- 
binus  2  by  pious  gift  has  given  a  temple,  welcome  to 
thee  and  destined  to  endure  —  so  may  hilly  Umbria 
ever  honour  thy  fount,  and  thy  Sassina  prize  not 
more  the  waters  of  Baiae  —  receive  with  placid  brow 
my  gift,  these  anxious  3  verses  ;  then  shalt  thou  be 
to  my  Muse  her  spring  of  Pegasus.4  "  Whoever  gives 
his  poems  to  temples  of  the  Nymphs,  himself  declares 
wjiat  should  be  done  with  his  books.''5  . 

LIX 

MAMURRA,  long  and  often  wandering  in  the  Saepta, 
here  where  Golden  Rome  flings  about  her  wealth, 

3  i.e.  as  to  its  reception  by  the  Nymph,  or  by  Sabinus. 

*  Hippocrene,  the  fountain  of  the  Muses,  created  by  the 
stroke  of  the  hoof  of  Pegasus. 

6  i.e.  to  be  thrown  into  the  water.  The  supposed  reply  of 
the  Nymph.  For  the  same  idea,  cf.  i.  v.  ;  in.  c.  4  ;  iv.  x.  6. 


i  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

inspexit  molles  pueros  oculisque  comedit, 

non  hos  quos  primae  prostituere  casae, 
sed  quos  arcanae  servant  tabulata  catastae  5 

et  quos  non  populus  nee  mea  turba  videt. 
inde  satur  mensas  et  opertos  exuit  orbes 

expositumque  alte  pingue  poposcit  ebur, 
et  testudineum  mensus  quater  hexaclinon 

ingemuit  citro  non  satis  esse  suo.  10 

consuluit  nares  an  olerent  aera  Corinthon, 

culpavit  statuas  et,  Polyclite,  tuas, 
et,  turbata  brevi  questus  crystallina  vitro, 

murrina  signavit  seposuitque  decem. 
expendit  veteres  calathos  et  si  qua  fuerunt  15 

pocula  Mentorea  nobilitata  manu, 
et  viridis  picto  gemmas  numeravit  in  auro, 

quidquid  et  a  nivea  grandius  aure  sonat. 
sardonychas  veros  mensa  quaesivit  in  omni 

et  pretium  magnis  fecit  iaspidibus.  20 

undecima  lassus  cum  iam  discederet  hora, 

asse  duos  calices  emit  et  ipse  tulit. 


LX 

SEU  tu  Paestanis  genita  es  seu  Tiburis  arvis, 
seu  rubuit  tellus  Tuscula  flore  tuo, 

seu  Praenestino  te  vilica  legit  in  horto, 
seu  modo  Campani  gloria  ruris  eras, 


1  cf.  ii.  xliii.  9. 

2  Connoisseurs  professed  to  detect  an   odour   in   genuine 
Corinthian  bronze  :  Petr.  50. 

3  Of  Sicyon,  a  celebrated  sculptor  of  the  fifth  century  B.C. 

116 


BOOK    IX.  LIX-LX 

inspected  and  devoured  with  his  eyes  dainty  boys, 
not  those  the  outer  stalls  made  public,  but  those  who 
are  guarded  by  the  platforms  of  a  secret  stand,  and 
whom  the  people  do  not  see,  nor  the  crowd  of  such  as 
I.  Then,  sated  with  the  view,  he  had  tables  and 
round  covered  table-tops1  laid  bare,  and  must  needs 
have  their  high-hung  glistening  ivory  supports  brought 
down;  and,  after  four  measurements  of  a  tortoise-shell 
couch  for  six,  he  said  with  a  sigh  that  it  was  too  small 
for  his  citrus-wood  table.  He  took  counsel  of  his 
nose  whether  the  bronzes  smelt  of  Corinth,2  and 
condemned  even  your  statuary,  Polyclitus ; 3  and, 
complaining  that  the  crystal  vases  were  disfigured 
by  a  small  piece  of  glass,  he  put  his  seal  on  ten 
murrine  4  articles,  and  set  them  aside.  He  weighed 
antique  tankards,  and  any  cups  made  precious  by 
Mentor's  5  handiwork,  and  counted  the  emeralds  set 
in  chased  gold,  and  every  larger  pearl  that  tinkles 
from  *a  snow-white  ear.  Genuine  sardonyxes  he 
looked  for  on  every  table,  and  offered  a  price  for 
some  big  jaspers.  When  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
fagged  out,  he  was  at  last  departing,  for  a  penny  he 
bought  two  cups — and  bore  them  off  himself !  6 


LX 

WHETHER  thou  wert  born  in  fields  of  Paestum  or 
of  Tibur,  or  the  soil  of  Tusculum  blushed  with  thy 
flower ;  or  a  farmer's  wife  culled  thee  in  a  garden 
at  Praeneste,  or  thou  wert  erewhile  the  glory  of 

4  Perhaps  porcelain  :  cf.  xiv.  cxiii. 

5  A  celebrated  worker  in  embossed  metal  of  the  fourth 
century  B.C.:  cf.  in.  xli.  1  ;  iv.  xxxix.  5. 

6  He  had  not  even  a  slave  of  his  own, 

117 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

pulchrior  ut  nostro  videare  corona  Sabino, 
de  Nomentano  te  putet  esse  meo. 


LXI 

IN  Tartesiacis  domus  est  notissima  terris, 

qua  dives  placidum  Corduba  Baetin  amat, 
vellera  nativo  pallent  ubi  flava  metallo 

et  Unit  Hesperium  brattea  viva  pecus. 
aedibus  in  mediis  totos  amplexa  penates  5 

stat  platanus  densis  Caesariana  comis, 
hospitis  invicti  posuit  quam  dextera  felix, 

coepit  et  ex  ilia  crescere  virga  manu. 
auctorem  dominumque  suum  sentire  videtur : 

sic  viret  et  ramis  sidera  celsa  petit.  10 

saepe  sub  hac  madidi  luserunt  arbore  Fauni 

terruit  et  tacitam  fistula  sera  domum  :. 
dumque  fugit  solos  nocturnum  Pana  per  agros, 

saepe  sub  hac  latuit  rustica  fronde  Dryas. 
atque  oluere  lares  comissatore  Lyaeo,  15 

crevit  et  effuso  laetior  umbra  mero ; 
hesternisque  rubens  deiecta  est  herba  coronis 

atque  suas  potuit  dicere  nemo  rosas. 
o  dilecta  deis,  o  magni  Caesaris  arbor, 

ne  metuas  ferrum  sacrilegosque  focos.  20 

perpetuos  sperare  licet  tibi  frondis  honores  : 

non  Pompeianae  te  posuere  manus. 

1  Which  produced  nothing :  cf.  vu.  xxxi.  8. 

2  The  Guadalquiver. 

3  cf.  v.  xxxvii.  7 ;  vm.  xxviii.  6. 

118 


BOOK    IX.  LX-LXI 

Campanian  meads ;  that  thou  mayst  seem  to  my 
Sabinus  a  chaplet  the  more  fair,  let  him  think  thou 
art  from  my  Nomentan l  farm. 


LXI 

A  HOUSE  renowned  stands  in  the  land  of  Tartessus 
where  rich  Corduba  woos  tranquil  Baetis/  where 
fleeces  are  yellow-pale  with  native  ore,  and  living 
gold  o'erlays  the  Western  flock.3  In  the  middle  of 
the  house,  shadowing  all  the  abode,  stands  with 
dense  leafage  Caesar's  4  plane,  which  an  unconquered 
Guest's  propitious  hand  planted,  and  which — then 
but  a  shoot — began  from  that  hand  to  grow.  It 
seems  to  feel  who  was  its  creator  and  lord  ;  so 
green  it  is,  and  with  its  boughs  it  climbs  high 
heaven.  Ofttimes  under  this  tree  sported  Fauns5 
flown  with  wine,  and  a  late-blown  pipe  startled  the 
still  house ;  and,  while  o'er  lonely  fields  she  fled  by 
night  from  Pan,  oft  under  these  leaves  the  rustic 
Dryad  6  nestled  hid.  And  fragrant  has  the  dwelling 
been  when  Lyaeus  held  revel,  and  more  luxuriant 
grown  the  tree's  shade  from  spilth  of  wine,  and  the 
blushing  flower  has  been  scattered  down  from  last 
night's  wreath,  and  none  could  claim  his  own  roses. 
O  thou  dear  to  the  gods  !  O  tree  of  mighty  Caesar  ! 
fear  not  the  steel  and  sacrilegious  fires.  Thou  mayst 
hope  thy  leafy  honours  shall  endure  for  ever  :  it  was 
not  Pompey's  hands  7  set  thee  there  ! 

4  Julius  Caesar. 

5  Rustic  deities,  half  goat,  half  in  human  shape. 

6  The  Dryads  were  nymphs  of  the  woods. 

7  But  those  of  his  conqueror. 

119 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXII 

TINCTIS  murice  vestibus  quod  onmi 
et  nocte  utitur  et  die  Philaenis, 
non  est  ambitiosa  nee  superba  : 
delectatur  odore,  non  colore. 


LXIII 

AD  cenam  invitant  omnes  te,  Phoebe,  einaedi. 
mentula  quern  pascit,  non,  puto,  purus  homo  est. 

LXIV 

HERCULIS  in  magni  voltus  descendere  Caesar 

dignatus  Latiae  dat  nova  templa  viae, 
qua  Triviae  nemorosa  petit  dum  reg'na,  viator 

octavum  domina  marmor  ab  urbe  legit, 
ante  colebatur  votis  et  sanguine  largo, 

raaiorem  Alciden  nunc  minor  ipse  colit. 
hunc  magnas  rogat  alter  opes,  rogat  alter  honores ; 

illi  securus  vota  minora  facit. 


LXV 

ALCIDE,  Latio  nunc  agnoscende  Tonanti, 
postquam  pulchra  dei  Caesaris  ora  geris, 

si  tibi  tune  isti  vultus  habitusque  fuissent, 
cesseruni,  manibus  cum  fera  monstra  tuis, 

1  She  wishes  to  drown  her  own  peculiar  odour.     Tyrian- 
dyed  garments  had  a  rank  smell :  cf.  iv.  iv.  6. 

2  Domitian  dedicated  a  temple  to  Hercules  with  a  statue 
hearing  the  features  of  the  emperor. 

120 


BOOK    IX.  LXII-LXV 


LXII 

BECAUSE  Philaenis  night  and  day  wears  garments 
dipped  in  every  kind  of  purple,  she  is  not  ambitious 
or  proud.  She  is  pleased  with  the  smell,  not  with 
the  hue.1 

LXIII 

ALL  the  dissolute  rascals  invite  you  to  dinner, 
Phoebus.  He  whom  impurity  feeds  is  not,  I  opine, 
a  spotless  person. 

LXIV 

CAESAR,  deigning  to  descend  to  the  features  of 
great  Hercules,2  gives  a  new  temple  to  the  Latin 
Way,  where  the  traveller,  on  his  journey  to  Trivia's 
woody  realm,3  reads  the  eighth  milestone  from  the 
Queen  City.  Aforetime  was  Alcides  worshipped  with 
prayer  and  full  blood  of  victims ;  now  he,  the  lesser, 
himself  worships  a  greater4  Alcides.  Of  him,  the 
greater,  one  man  begs  large  wealth,  another  begs 
honours;  to  him,  the  lesser,  carelessly  he  makes  his 
more  trifling  prayers. 

LXV 

ALCIDES,  worthy  now  to  be  owned  by  the  Latin 
Thunderer,5  after  that  thou  wearest  the  features  fair 
of  Caesar  our  god,  if  thine  had  been  then  that 
face  and  guise  when  savage  monsters  yielded  to  thy 
arms,  the  nations  had  not  seen  thee  the  serf  of  the 

3  To  the  temple  and  grove  of  Diana  of  the  Crossways 
( Trivia)  at  Aricia . 

*  The  emperor.  5  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol. 

121 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

Argolico  famulum  non  te  servire  tyranno  5 

vidissent  gentes  saevaque  regna  pati ; 
sed  tu  iussisses  Eurysthea :  nee  tibi  fallax 

portasset  Nessi  perfida  dona  Lichas  ; 
Oetaei  sine  lege  rogi  securus  adisses 

astra  patris  summi,  quae  tibi  poena  dedit ;  10 

Lydia  nee  dominae  traxisses  pensa  superbae 

nee  Styga  vidisses  Tartareumque  canem. 
nunc  tibi  luno  favet,  nunc  te  tua  diligit  Hebe ; 

nunc  te  si  videat  Nympha,  remittet  Hylan. 

LXVI 

UXOR  cum  tibi  sit  Formosa,  pudica,  puella, 
quo  tibi  natorum  iura,  Fabulle,  trium  ? 

quod  petis  a  nostro  supplex  dominoque  deoque, 
tu  dabis  ipse  tibi,  si  potes  arrigere. 

LXVII 

LASCIVAM  tota  possedi  nocte  puellam, 

cuius  nequitias  vincere  nulla  potest. 
fessus  mille  modis  illud  puerile  poposci : 

ante  preces  totas  primaque  verba  dedit. 

1  Hercules  was  the  serf  of  Eurystheus  until  he  had  ac- 
complished his  twelve  labours. 

2  Lichas,    the    servant    of    Hercules,    at   the   bidding  of 
Deianeira,  his  wife,  gave  him  the  shirt  of  Nessus  steeped  in 
the  poison  of  the  hydra  slain  by  H.     It  clung  to  him,  and  he 
burnt  himself  on  a  pyre  on  Mt.  Oeta. 

122 


BOOK    IX.  LXV-LXVII 

despot  of  Argos,1  and  enduring  a  cruel  thrall,  but 
thou  wouldst  have  commanded  Eurystheus ;  nor 
would  false  Lichas  2  have  brought  to  thee  the  guile- 
ful gift  of  Nessus ;  without  the  ordeal  of  Oeta's 
pyre  wouldst  thou  unvexed  have  won  that  heaven 
of  thy  Sire  supreme  which  thy  penance  gave  thee ; 
nor  wouldst  thou  have  drawn  out  the  wool  of  a 
haughty  mistress,3  nor  have  viewed  Styx  and  the 
Tartarean  hound.4  Now  to  thee  is  Juno  kind,  now 
thy  Hebe  loves  thee  ;  now,  should  she  see  thee,  the 
nymph  will  send  Hylas  5  back. 


LXVI 

WHEN  you  have  a  wife  beautiful,  modest,  young, 
what  is  the  use  to  you,  Fabullus,  of  the  rights  b  three 
sons  bestow  ?  What  you  suppliantly  ask  of  our  Lord 
and  God  you  will  yourself  supply — if  you  can  play 
the  man. 

LXVII 

POSSEDEI  per  tutta  la  notte  una  lasciva  ragazza,  le 
di  cui  malizie  nessuna  pu6  sorpassare.  Sazio  in  mille 
maniere,  dimandai  quel  non  so  che  alia  fanciullesca  : 
me  lo  accord6  avanti  d'esserne  pregata,  ed  alle  prime 

3  Oraphale,  queen  of  Lydia,  who  wore  H.'s  lion-skin  while 
hespun  her  wool. 

4  It  was  one  of  the  labours  of  Hercules  to  fetch  Cerberus 
from  the  shades. 

6  A  beautiful  youth,  the  attendant  of  Hercules,  carried  off 
by  the  enamoured  Nymphs  :  cf.  v.  xlviii.  5. 

6  Often  given,  as  a  compliment,  even  to  childless  persons  : 
cf.  ii.  xci.  6. 

123 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

inprobius  quiddam  ridensque  rubensque  rogavi :        5 

pollicitast  nulla  luxuriosa  mora. 
sed  mihi  pura  fuit ;  tibi  non  erit,  Aeschyle,  si  vis 

accipere  hoc  munus  condicione  mala. 

LXVIII 

QUID  tibi  nobiscum  est,  ludi  scelerate  magister, 

invisum  pueris  virginibusque  caput? 
nondum  cristati  rupere  silentia  galli : 

murraure  iam  saevo  verberibusque  tonas. 
tarn  grave  percussis  incudibus  aera  resultant,  5 

causidicum  medio  cum  faber  aptat  equo : 
mitior  in  magno  clamor  furit  amphitheatro, 

vincenti  parmae  cum  sua  turba  favet. 
vicini  somnum  non  tota  nocte  rogamus  : 

iiani  vigilare  leve  est,  pervigilare  grave  est.          10 
discipulos  dimitte  tuos.     vis,  garrule,  quantum 

accipis  ut  clames,  accipere  ut  taceas  ? 

LXIX 

CUM  futuis,  Polycharme,  soles  in  fine  cacare. 
cum  pedicaris,  quid,  Polycharme,  facis  ? 

LXX 

DIXERAT  "  O  mores  !  o  tempora  !  "  Tullius  olim, 
sacrilegum  strueret  cum  Catilina  nefas, 

1  Some  disgraceful  complaisance  was  required  in  return, 
which  M.  says  he  refused,  but  which  Aeschylus  would  not. 

2  Successful  lawyers  were  in  the  habit  of  erecting  eques- 
trian statues  of  themselves  in  their  vestibules :  cf.  Juv.  vii. 
124. 


BOOK    IX.  LXVII-LXX 

ricchieste.  Fra  '1  riso  e  la  vergogna  dimandai  qualche 
cosa  d'assai  nefando :  me  lo  promise  senza  la  me- 
nonia  interessata  dilazione.  Ma  fu  da  me  lasciata 
pura ;  non  lo  sara  da  te,  O  Eschilo,  se  vuoi  prendere 
questo  dono  ma  a  mala  condizione.1 

LXVIII 

WHAT  have  you  to  do  with  us,  accursed  pedagogue, 
a  fellow  odious  to  boys  and  girls?  Not  yet  have 
crested  cocks  broken  the  hush  of  night,  already  with 
menacing  voice  and  with  thwacks  you  raise  an  up- 
roar. So  heavily  re-echoes  brass  on  smitten  anvils 
when  a  smith  is  fitting  a  pleader's  statue  astride 
a  steed ;  'z  milder  in  the  huge  amphitheatre  riots 
the  shout  when  its  own  faction  acclaims  the 
small  shield.3  We  neighbours  don't  ask  for  sleep 
all  the  night ; 4  for  some  wakefulness  is  a  trifle,  to 
wake  all  night  is  no  joke.  Dismiss  your  pupils.  Are 
you  willing,  you  blatant  fellow,  to  accept  for  holding 
your  tongue  as  much  as  you  accept  for  bawling  ? 

LXIX 

QUANDO  immembri,  O  Policarmo,  suoli  dopo  sgra- 
varti.  Quando  sei  sodomizato,  che  fai,  O  Policarmo  ? 

LXX 

"O  MANNERS!  O  times!"  cried  Tully  once  when 
Catiline  was  planning  his  sacrilegious  crime,1''  when 

8  Parma,  carried  by  gladiators  called  Thracians.  Domi- 
tian  favoured  the  scufarii,  the  carriers  of  the  large  shield. 
Hence  a  victory  of  the  parmularius  would  be  more  unex- 
pected. 4  As  to  the  noises  of  Rome,  cf.  xn.  Ivii. 

6  Cic.  Oat.  I.  i.  2. 

125 


THE  EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

cum  gener  atque  socer  diris  concurreret  armis 

maestaque  civili  caede  maderet  humus, 
cur  nunc  "  O  mores!"  cur  nunc  "O  temporal  "  dicis  ? 

quod  tibi  non  placeat,  Caeciliane,  quid  est?  6 

nulla  ducum  feritas,  nulla  est  insania  ferri ; 

pace  frui  certa  laetitiaque  licet, 
non  nostri  faciunt  tibi  quod  tua  tempora  sordent, 

sed  faciunt  mores,  Caeciliane,  tui.  10 


LXXI 

MASSYLI  leo  fama  iugi  pecorisque  maritus 

lanigeri  mirum  qua  coiere  fide, 
ipse  licet  videas,  cavea  stabulantur  in  una 

et  pariter  socias  carpit  uterque  dapes : 
nee  fetu  nemorum  gaudent  nee  mitibus  herbis,         5 

concordem  satiat  sed  rudis  agna  famem. 
quid  meruit  terror  Nemees,  quid  portitor  Helles, 

ut  niteant  celsi  lucida  signa  poli  ? 
sidera  si  possent  pecudesque  feraeque  mereri, 

hie  aries  astris,  hie  leo  dignus  erat.  10 


LXXII 

LIBER,  Amyclaea  frontem  vittate  corona, 
qui  quatis  Ausonia  verbera  Graia  manu, 

clusa  rnihi  texto  cum  prandia  vimine  mittas, 
cur  comitata  dapes  nulla  lagona  venit  ? 

atqui  digna  tuo  si  nomine  munera  ferres,  5 

scis,  puto,  debuerint  quae  mihi  dona  dari. 

1  Porapey  married  Caesar's  daughter  Julia. 

2  The  lion  slain  by  Hercules  and  the  ram   that  carried 
Helle  respectively,  afterwards  two  of  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 

126 


BOOK   IX.  LXX-LXXII 

son-in-law  and  father-in-law1  were  clashing  in  dread- 
ful war,  and  the  weeping  earth  was  drenched  with 
civil  carnage.  Why  do  you  now  cry  "  O  manners  !  " 
why  now  "O  times!"  What  is  it  displeases  you, 
Caecilianus  ?  No  savagery  of  captains  is  here,  no 
frenzy  of  the  sword  :  we  may  enjoy  unbroken  peace 
and  pleasure.  'Tis  not  our  "  manners  "  that  make 
your  "times"  despicable  to  you,  but  your  own 
manners,  Caecilianus,  make  them  so. 

LXXI 

A  LION,  the  renown  of  Massy  Han  hills,  and  the 
husband  of  the  fleecy  flock,  have  allied  themselves  in 
wondrous  confidence.  You  may  yourself  see  them  : 
they  are  stalled  in  one  pen,  and  each  with  the  other 
takes  his  social  meal ;  they  relish  not  the  breed  of 
the  woods,  nor  harmless  herbs,  but  a  young  lamb 
sates  their  friendly  hunger.  What  was  the  merit  of 
the  terror  of  Nemea,  what  of  the  carrier  of  Helle,2 
that  they  should  glow,  the  tall  sky's  lustrous  signs  ? 
If  both  sheep  and  wild  beasts  could  win  by  merit  to 
heaven,  this  ram,  this  lion  were  worthy  to  become 
stars. 

LXXII 

Li  BE  n,3  whose  brow  is  wreathed  with  an  Amy- 
claean4  crown,  who  level  with  an  Italian  arm  the 
Grecian  boxer's  blows,  as  you  are  sending  me  a 
lunch  shut  in  a  wicker  basket,  why  does  no  flagon 
come  attendant  on  the  feast  ?  And  yet,  if  you  were 
to  produce  a  gift  to  match  your  name,5  you  know,  I 
think,  what  present  should  have  been  given  me ! 

3  To  whom  also  vni.  Ixxvii.  is  addressed. 

4  i.e.  Spartan.     Pollux,  the  son  of  Spartan  Leda,  invented 
boxing.  5  Liber  was  also  a  synonym  of  .Bacchus. 

127 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXIII 

DENTIBUS  antiquas  solitus  producere  pelles 

et  mordere  luto  putre  vetusque  solum, 
Praenestina  tenes  defunct!  rura l  patroni, 

in  quibus  indignor  si  tibi  cella  fuit ; 
rumpis  et  ardenti  madidus  crystalla  Falerno  5 

et  pruris  domini  cum  Ganymede  tui. 
at  me  litterulas  stulti  docuere  parentes : 

quid  cum  grammaticis  rhetoribusque  mihi  ? 
frange  leves  calamos  et  scinde,  Thalia,  libellos,, 

si  dare  sutori  calceus  ista  potest.  10 


LXXIV 

EFFIGIEM  tantum  pueri  pictura  Camoni 
servat,  et  infantis  parva  figura  manet. 

florentes  nulla  signavit  imagine  voltus, 
dum  timet  ora  pius  muta  videre  pater. 


LXXV 

NON  silice  duro  structilive  caemento 

nee  latere  cocto,  quo  Samiramis  longam 

Babylona  cinxit,  Tucca  balneum  fecit, 

sed  strage  nemorum  pineaque  conpage, 

ut  navigare  Tucca  balneo  possit.  5 

idem  beatas  lautus  extruit  thermas 

de  mat-more  omni,  quod  Carystos  invenit, 

quod  Phrygia  Synnas,  Afra  quod  Nomas  misit 

et  quod  virenti  fonte  lavit  Eurotas. 

sed  ligna  desunt :  subice  balneum  thermis.       10 

1  decepti  regna  0. 
128 


BOOK    IX.  Lxxiii-Lxxv 

LXXIII 

WONT  with  your  teeth  to  stretch  out  ancient  hides, 
and  to  gnaw  a  shoe-sole  rotten  with  mud  and  worn 
out,  you  possess  the  Praenestan  fields  of  your  dead 
patron,  in  which  I  think  it  shame  if  you  ever  had  a 
garret ;  and  drunk,  you  fill  to  bursting  your  crystal 
with  hot  Falernian,  and  lewdly  trifle  with  the  cup- 
bearer of  your  master.  But  me  foolish  parents  taught 
paltry  letters :  what  is  the  use  of  teachers  of  grammar 
and  rhetoric  to  me  ?  Break  your  worthless  pens, 
Thalia,  and  tear  up  your  books,  if  a  shoe  can  give  a 
cobbler  a  gift  like  that. 

LXXIV 

CAMONIUS'   picture  preserves  but  the  image  of  a 
child,  and  only  an  infant's  tiny  form  survives.     On 
the   face   of   manhood's    bloom1    a   father   stamped" 
no  semblance  :  his  love  feared  to  see  the  lips  that 
spake  no  more. 

LXXV 

NOT  of  hard  flint  or  laid  rubble,  nor  of  burnt  brick, 
wherewith  Semiramis  girt  the  long  walls  of  Babylon, 
has  Tucca  made  his  bath  ;  but  of  the  havoc  of  the 
woods  and  of  balks  of  pine,  so  that  Tucca  may  go  to 
sea  in  his  bath  !  He  also,  luxurious  man  that  he  is ! 
builds  costly  warm  baths  of  every  kind  of  marble  that 
Carystos  discovers,  that  Phrygian  Synnas,  that  African 
Numidia  has  sent  him,  and  of  that  which  Eurotas 
has  washed  green 2  with  his  spring.  But  firewood 
is  lacking.  Put  the  bath  under  the  warm  bath  ! 3 

1  cf.  ix.  Ixxvi.  3-5. 

2  cf.  vi.  xlii.  11.     Laconian  marble  was  green. 

3  The  wooden  bath  might  have  made  a  boat  (1.  5),  but  is 
now  to  make  a  fire. 

129 

VOL.   II.  K 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXVI 

HAEC  sunt  ilia  mei  quae  cernitis  ora  Camoni, 

haec  pueri  facies  primaque  forma  fuit. 
creverat  hie  vultus  bis  denis  fortior  annis 

gaudebatque  suas  pingere  barba  genas, 
et  libata  semel  summos  modo  purpura  cultros  5 

sparserat.     invidit  de  tribus  una  soror 
et  festinatis  incidit  stamina  pensis, 

apsentemque  patri  rettulit  urna  rogum. 
sed  ne  sola  tamen  puerum  pictura  loquatur, 

haec  erit  in  chartis  maior  imago  meis.  10 

LXXVII 

QUOD  optimum  sit  disputat  convivium 

facunda  Prisci  pagina, 
et  multa  dulci,  multa  sublimi  refert, 

sed  cuncta  docto  pectore. 
quod  optimum  sit  quaeritis  convivium  ?  5 

in  quo  choraules  non  erit. 


U-A.A.  ¥  JL11 

FUNERA  post  septem  nupsit  tibi  Galla  virorum, 
Picentine  :  sequi  vult,  puto,  Galla  viros. 

LXXIX 

ODERAT  ante  ducum  famulos  turbamque  priorem 
et  Palatinum  Roma  supercilium  : 


1  The  Fates. 

2  C.  died  in  Cappadocia :  cf.  vi.  Ixxxv.  3. 

130 


BOOK    IX.  LXXVI-LXXIX 

LXXVI 

THIS  face  you  see  is  that  of  my  Camonius :  this 
was  his  childish  face  and  infant  form.  These  features 
had  grown  manlier  in  twice  ten  years,  and  his  beard 
gladly  was  tinging  its  native  cheek,  and  darkening 
down,  shaved  but  once,  had  newly  besprent  the 
scissors'  tip.  Jealous  was  one  Sister  of  the  Three,1 
and  she  cut  the  thread  from  the  wool  too  quickly 
spun,  and  an  urn  gave  back  to  the  sire  the  ashes 
from  afar.2  Yet,  that  not  alone  be  the  picture  that 
bespeaks  a  boy,  in  my  lay  shall  this,  a  nobler  likeness, 
be  found. 

LXXVII 

Puiscus'  pages  fluently  discuss  what  is  the  best 
kind  of  entertainment,  and  he  .puts  forward  many 
views  in  a  pleasant,  many  in  a  lofty  style,  and  all 
with  learning.  Do  you  ask  what  is  the  best  en- 
tertainment ?  One  where  there  will  be  no  flute- 
player  with  his  chorus.3 

LXXVIII 

AFTER  burying  seven  husbands,  Galla  has  married 
you,  Picentinus ;  Galla  wants,  I  imagine,  to  follow 
her  husbands.4 

LXXIX 

ONCE  Rome  abhorred  the  henchmen  and  the  old 
retinue  of  her  chiefs,  and  the  haughtiness  of  the 

8  To  drown  conversation.  The  choraules  accompanied  a 
chorus,  as  distinguished  from  the  auletes  or  the  citharoedus, 
a  single  player  on  flute  or  harp  :  cf.  v.  Ivi.  8. 

4  Both  G.  and  P.  were  poisoners :  cf.  vm.  xliii. 

131 
K    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

at  nunc  tantus  amor  cunctis,  Auguste,  tuorum  est 
ut  sit  caique  suae  cura  secunda  domus. 

tarn  placidae  mentes,  tanta-  est  reverentia  nostri, 
tarn  pacala  quies,  tantus  in  ore  pudor. 

nemo  suos  (haec  est  aulae  natura  potentis) 
sed  domini  mores  Caesarianus  habet. 


LXXX 

DUXERAT  esuriens  locupletem  pauper  anumque  : 
uxorem  pascit  Gellius  et  futuit. 

LXXXI 

LECTOR  et  auditor  nostros  probat,  Aule,  libellos, 
sed  quidam  exactos  esse  poeta  negat. 

non  nimium  euro  :  nam  cenae  fercula  nostrae 
malim  convivis  quam  placuisse  cocis. 

LXXXII 

DIXERAT  astrologus  periturum  te  cito,  Munna, 
nee,  puto,  mentitus  dixerat  ille  tibi. 

nam  tu  dum  metuis  ne  quid  post  fata  relinquas, 
hausisti  patrias  luxuriosus  opes, 

bisque  tuum  deciens  non  toto  tabuit  anno, 
die  mihi,  non  hoc  est,  Munna,  perire  cito  ? 

LXXXIII 

INTER  tanta  tuae  miracula,  Caesar,  harenae, 
quae  vincit  veterum  munera  clara  ducum, 

multum  oculi  sed  plus  aures  debere  fatentur 
se  tibi,  quod  spectant  qui  recitare  solent. 


132 


BOOK     IX.    LXXIX-LXXXHI 

Palatine ;  but  now,  Augustus,  all  men  so  love  those 
that  belong  to  you  that  to  each  his  own  household 
is  but  a  second  care.  So  gentle  are  their  tempers, 
so  great  is  their  respect  for  us,  so  unruffled  is  their 
calm,  such  modesty  is  in  their  faces  !  No  servant  of 
Caesar — such  is  the  mood  of.  an  imperial  hall — 
displays  his  own  manners,  but  those  only  of  his 
master. 

LXXX 

HUNGRY,  and  a  pauper,  Gellius  married  a  rich  and 
old  woman.  He  now  feeds  and  tickles  his  wife. 

LXXXI 

READER  and  hearer  approve  of  my  works,  Aulus, 
but  a  certain  poet  says  they  are  not  polished.  1 
don't  care  much,  for  I  should  prefer  the  courses  of 
my  dinner  to  please  guests  rather  than  cooks. 

LXXXII 

AN  astrologer  said  that  you  would  quickly  come  to 
an  end,  Munna,  and  he  did  not  lie,  I  think,  when  he 
said  it  to  you.  For  you,  in  your  fear  of  leaving 
anything  after  your  death,  have  in  extravagance  ex- 
hausted your  father's  wealth,  and  your  two  millions 
have  melted  away  in  less  than  a  year.  Tell  me,  is 
not  this,  Munna,  quickly  coming  to  an  end  ? 

LXXXIII 

AMID  the  mighty  wonders  ot  your  arena,  Caesar, 
which  surpasses  the  grand  spectacles  of  former  chiefs, 
there  is  much  our  eyes  admit  they  owe  you,  but 
our  ears  still  more,  for  the  usual  reciters  are  now 
spectators.1 

1  And  cannot  bore  us  :  cf.  Juv.  i.  7-14. 

133 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXXIV 

CUM  tua  sacrileges  contra,  Norbane,  furores 

staret  pro  domino  Caesare  sancta  fides, 
haec  ego  Pieria  ludebam  tutus  in  umbra, 

ille  tuae  cultor  notus  amicitiae. 
me  tibi  Vindelicis  Raetus  narrabat  in  oris,  5 

nescia  nee  nostri  nominis  Arctos  erat : 
o  quotiens  veterem  non  infitiatus  amicum 

dixisti  "  Meus  est  iste  poeta,  meus  !  " 
omne  tibi  nostrum  quod  bis  trieteride  iuncta 

ante  dabat  lector,  nunc  dabit  auctor  opus.  10 


LXXXV 

LANGUIDIOR  noster  si  quando  est  Paulus,  Atili, 
non  se,  convivas  abstinet  ille  suos. 

tu  languore  quidem  subito  fictoque  laboras, 
sed  mea  porrexit  sportula,  Paule,  pedes. 


LXXXVI 

FESTINATA  sui  gemeret  quod  fata  Sever! 

Silius,  Ausonio  non  semel  ore  potens, 
cum  grege  Pierio  maestus  Phoeboque  querebar. 

"  Ipse  meum  flevi  "  dixit  Apollo  "  Linon  "  : 
respexitque  suam  quae  stabat  proxima  fratri  5 

Calliopen  et  ait  "  Tu  quoque  vulnus  habes. 

1  Appius  Norbanus  had  been  sent  in  A.D.  88  to  crush  the 
revolt  of  Saturninus  against  Domitian  :  cf.  iv.  xi.     He  was 
absent  six  years,  and  M.'s  works  would  be  Books  IV. -VIII. 

2  i.e.  is  lost  to  me.     Porrigere  pedes  was  said  of  a  corpse 
when  laid  out  with  the  feet  pointing  to  the  outer  door  : 
Pers.  iii.  105  ;  Horn.  II.  xix.  212. 

134 


BOOK    IX.  LXXXIV-LXXXVI 

LXXXIV 

WHEN  your  inviolate  loyalty,  Norbanus,  in  defence 
of  your  master  Caesar  was  withstanding  impious 
frenzy,  I,  secure  in  the  Pierian  shade,  the  wooer,  as 
men  know,  of  your  friendship,  threw  off  these  books. 
Me  the  Rhaetian  quoted  to  you  on  Vindelicia's 
shores,  and  the  North  was  not  unknowing  of  my 
name.  Oh,  how  often,  not  denying  your  old  friend, 
you  exclaimed  :  "  My  own  is  that  poet,  my  own !  " 
All  work  of  mine,  which  during  three  years  twice 
counted l  your  reader  gave  you  before,  its  author 
will  give  you  now. 

LXXXV 

IF  at  any  time,  Atilius,  our  acquaintance  Paulus  is 
unwell,  he  practises  abstinence,  not  on  himself  but 
on  his  guests. '  You  are  suffering  no  doubt,  Paulus, 
from  a  sudden — and  fictitious — illness  :  all  the  same 
my  dinner  has  turned  up  its  toes.2 

LXXXVI 

BECAUSE  Silius,  the  twofold  master  of  the  Latin 
tongue,3  was  lamenting  the  early  death  of  his  Se- 
verus,4  I  complained  sadly  to  the  Pierian  band  and 
to  Phoebus.  "I,  too,"  said  Apollo,  " wept  for  my 
Linus."  And  he  looked  back  to  Calliope  his  sister, 
who  stood  next  her  brother,  and  said :  "  You,  too,5 

3  i.e.  as  orator  and  poet  :  cf.  vn.  Ixiii. 

4  S.'s  younger  son,  for  whom  M.  solicited  the  consulship 
(vm.  Ixvi.),  which,  however,  he  never  attained  :  Plin.  Ep. 
in.  vii.  2. 

5  Calliope  was  the  mother  of  Orpheus.     So,  too,  Jupiter 
had  lost  Sarpedon,  and  Domitian  a  son  ;  cf.  iv.  iii. 

135 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

aspice  Tarpeium  Palatinumque  Tonantem  : 
ausa  nefas  Lachesis  laesit  utrumque  lovem. 

nuniina  cum  videas  duris  obnoxia  fatis, 

jnvidia  possis  esonerare  deos."  10 

LXXXVII 

SEPTEM  post  calices  Opimiani 

denso  cum  iaceam  triente  blaesus, 

adfers  nescio  quas  mihi  tabellas 

et  dicis  "  Modo  liberum  esse  iussi 

Nastam  (servolus  est  mihi  paternus)  :  5 

signa."     eras  melius,  Luperce,  fiet : 

nunc  signal  meus  anulus  lagonam. 

LXXXVIII 

CUM  me  captares,  mittebas  munera  nobis  : 
postquam  cepisti,  das  mihi,  Rufe,  nihil. 

ut  captum  teneas,  capto  quoque  munera  mitte, 
de  cavea  fugiat  ne  male  pastus  aper. 

LXXXIX 

LEGE  nimis  dura  convivam  scribere  versus 

cogis,  Stella  ?     "  Licet  scribere  nempe  malos." 


XC 

Sic  in  gramine  florido  reclinis, 
qua  gemmantibus  hinc  et  inde  rivis 

1  t  e.  as  a  witness.     But  M.    hints  that  Lupercus  wishes 
him  to  sign  a  document  which  he  would  not  sign  when  sober. 

136 


BOOK    IX.  LXXXVI-XC 

have  your  wound.  Mark  the  Thunderer  of  the  Tar- 
peian  and  him  of  the  Palatine  :  Lachesis,  daring  a 
crime,  has  hurt  either  Jove.  Forasmuch  as  you  see 
that  deities  are  subject  to  the  inflexible  Fates,  of 
jealousy  you  may  acquit  the  gods." 

LXXXVII 

WHEN,  after  seven  cups  of  Opimian,  I  lie  lisping 
amid  my  frequent  potations,  you  bring  me  some 
document  or  other  and  say :  "  I  have  just  bade 
Nasta  to  go  free — he  was  my  father's  slave — put 
your  seal."  1  Better  to-morrow,  Lupercus  :  just  now 
my  ring  only  seals  up  2  flagons. 

LXXXVIII 

WHEN  you  were  trying  to  catch  me  you  used  to 
send  me  presents  :  after  you  have  caught  me,  you, 
Rufus,  give  me  nothing.  To  hold  your  catch,  send 
presents  to  him  also  when  caught,  that  the  boar, 
being  badly  fed,  may  not  escape  from  its  pen. 

LXXXIX 

Do  you  by  too  hard  a  regulation  compel  your  guest 
to  write  verses,  Stella  ?  "  Well,  you  are  allowed  to 
write  bad  ones." 

xc 

So,  on  flower-spangled  sward  reclining,  where  in 
the  runnels  sparkling  here  and  there  the  pebble  is 

2  To  prevent  theft:  Plin.  N.H.  xxxiii.  6;  Juv.  xiv. 
132. 

137 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

curva  calculus  excitatur  unda, 

exclusis  procul  omnibus  molestis, 

pertundas  l  glaciem  triente  nigro,  5 

frontem  sutilibus  ruber  coronis  ; 

sic  uni  tibi  sit  puer  cinaedus 

et  castissima  pruriat  puella  : 

infamem  nimio  calore  Cypron 

observes  moneo  precorque,  Flacce,  10 

messes  area  cum  teret  crepantis 

et  fervens  iuba  saeviet  leonis. 

at  tu,  diva  Paphi,  remitte,  nostris 

inlaesum  iuvenem  remitte  votis, 

sic  Martis  tibi  serviant  Kalendae  15 

et  cum  ture  meroque  victimaque 

libetur  tibi  Candidas  ad  aras 

secta  plurima  quadra  de  placenta. 

XCI 

AD  cenam  si  me  diversa  vocaret  in  astra 

hinc  invitator  Caesaris,  inde  lovis, 
astra  licet  propius,  Palatia  longius  essent, 

responsa  ad  superos  haec  referenda  darem : 
"  Quaerite  qui  malit  fieri  conviva  Tonantis  :  5 

me  meus  in  terns  luppiter  ecce  tenet." 

XCII 

QUAE  mala  sint  domini,  quae  servi  commoda,  nescis, 
Condyle,  qui  servum  te  gemis  esse  diu. 
1  perfundas  y. 

1  Wine  was  strained  through  ice  or  snow  :  ef.  v.  Ixiv.  2 ; 
xiv.  cxvii. 

138 


BOOK    IX.  xc-xcn 

tumbled  by  the  rippling  wave,  with  all  your  frets 
banished  afar,  may  you  with  measures  of  dark  Vine 
break  through  the  ice 1  while  your  brow  blushes 
with  rose-stitched  chaplets ;  so  for  you  alone  may  a 
fair  boy-slave  and  a  mistress  most  pure  be  eager,  if, 
as  I  warn  and  pray  you,  Flaccus,  you  beware  of 
Cyprus  of  evil  name  in  summer's  height,  when  the 
threshing-floor  shall  bray  the  rustling  harvests,  and 
the  Lion's  mane  2  be  hot  with  rage.  But  do  thou, 
goddess  of  Paphos,  send  back  to  our  prayers,  send 
back  the  youth  unscathed  ;  so  may  March's  kalends  3 
be  in  fealty  to  thee,  and  with  incense,  and  new 
wine,  and  victim,  there  be  offered  to  thee  at  thy 
fair  altars  many  a  quarter  of  parcelled  cake. 


XCI 

WERE  I  invited  to  diverse  heavens  to  feast,  on  this 
side  by  Caesar's  summoner,  on  that  by  Jove's,  though 
the  stars  were  nearer,  the  Palace  more  far,  this 
answer  would  I  give  to  be  returned  to  the  High 
Gods :  "  Seek  ye  one  who  would  choose  to  be  the 
Thunderer's  guest;  me  on  earth,  mark  ye,  my  Jupiter 
detains ! " 

XCII 

WHAT  are  a  master's  ills,  what  a  slave's  bless- 
ings" you  do  not  know,  Condylus,  who  groan  that 

2  The  constellation  Leo. 

3  At  the  festival  of  the  Matronalia  men  sent  presents  to 
their  mistresses  :  cf.  v.  Ixxxjv.  11, 

'39 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

dat  tibi  secures  vilis  tegeticula  somnos, 

pervigil  in  pluma  Gaius  ecce  iacet. 
Gaius  a  prima  tremebundus  luce  salutat  5 

tot  dominos,  at  tu,  Condyle,  nee  dominum. 
"Quod  debes,  Gai,  redde  "  inquit  Phoebus  et  illinc 

Cinnamus  :  hoc  dicit,  Condyle,  nemo  tibi. 
tortorem  metuis  ?  podagra  cheragraque  secatur 

Gaius  et  mallet  verbera  mille  pati.  10 

quod  nee  mane  vomis  nee  cunniim,  Condyle,  lingis, 

non  mavis  quam  ter  Gaius  esse  tuus  ? 

XCIII 

ADDERE  quid  cessas,  puer,  inmortale  Falernum  ? 

quadrantem  duplica  de  seniore  cado. 
nunc  mihi  die,  quis  erit  cui  te,  Calacisse,  deorum 

sex  iubeo  cyathos  fundere?     "Caesar  erit." 
sutilis  aptetur  deciens  rosa  crinibus,  ut  sit  5 

qui  posuit  sacrae  nobile  gentis  opus, 
nunc  bis  quina  mihi  da  basia,  fiat  ut  illud 

nomen  ab  Odrysio  quod  deus  orbe  tulit. 

XCIV 

SARDONICA  medicata  dedit  mihi  pocula  virga, 
os  hominis !  mulsum  me  rogat  Hippocrates. 

1  i.e.  to  extort  confession  of  some  offence  :  Juv.  xiv.  21. 

2  Domitian,  who  founded  the  temple  of  the  Gens  Flavia : 
cf.  ix.  i.  8  ;  ix.  iii.  12. 

3  The   six  and  the  two   tens   represent  respectively  the 
names  Caesar,  Domitianus,  and  Germanicus.     For  this  prac- 
tice, cf.  I.  Ixxi. ;  xi.  xxxvi.  7. 

140 


BOOK    IX.  xcii-xnv 

you  are  so  long  a  slave.  Your  common  rush-mat 
affords  you  sleep  untroubled ;  wakeful  all  night 
on  down,  see,  Gaius  lies !  Gaius  from  early  morn 
salutes  trembling  many  masters  ;  but  you,  Condylus-, 
not  even  your  master.  "  What  you  owe,  Gaius,  pay," 
says  Phoebus,  and  after  him  Cinnamus  :  this  no  one, 
Condylus,  says  to  you.  Do  you  dread  the  torturer  ?  l 
By  gout  in  foot  and  hand  Gaius  is  stabbed,  and  would 
choose  instead  to  endure  a  thousand  blows.  You  do 
not  vomit  in  the  morning,  nor  are  you  given  to  filthy 
vice,  Condylus  :  do  you  not  prefer  this  to  being  your 
Gaius  three  times  over  ? 


XCIII 

WHY  linger,  boy,  to  pour  in  the  undying  Falernian? 
Double  three  measures  from  the  older  jar.  Now  tell 
me  who  shall  it  be  of  the  Gods  to  whom  I  bid  thee, 
Calocissus,  pour  six  measures  ?  "  Caesar  it  shall 
be."  Let  the  stitched  rose  be  ten  times  fitted  to 
our  locks,  that  he  be  shown  who  laid  the  noble 
temple  of  his  hallowed  race.2  Now  give  me  twice 
five  kisses  to  shape  the  name  he  brought  from  the 
Thracian  world.3 

XCIV 

HIPPOCRATES  4  gave  me — such  is  his  impudence^! — 
a  draught  drugged  with  Sardinian  root,5  and  asks  me 

4  H.  of  Cos  was  the  founder  of   medicine.     The  name  is 
here  put  for  a  doctor. 

5  The  herbs  of  Sardinia  were  bitter,  and  affected  honey  : 
Verg.    Ed.    vii.   41.      Yet   H.    expects   in   return   ordinary 
mulsum  (wine  and  honey  mixed). 

141 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

tarn  stupidus  numquam  nee  tu,  puto,  Glauce,  fuisti, 

^aXfcea  donanti  xpvcrta  qui  dederas. 
dulce  aliquis  munus  pro  munere  poscit  amaro  ?  5 

accipiat,  sed  si  potat  in  elleboro. 

XCV 

ALPHIUS  ante  fait,  coepit  nunc  Olphius  esse, 
uxorem  postquam  diixit  Athenagoras. 

XCVe 

NOMEN  Athenagorae  quaeris,  Callistrate,  verum. 

si  scio,  dispeream,  qui  sit  Athenagoras. 
sed  puta  me  verum,  Callistrate,  dicere  nomen  :          5 

non  ego  sed  vester  peccat  Athenagoras. 

XCVI 

CLINICUS  Herodes  trullam  subduxerat  aegro  : 
deprensus  dixit  "Stulte,  quid  ergo  bibis?  " 

XCVII 

RUMPITUR  invidia  quidam,  carissime  lull, 
quod  me  Roma  legit,  rumpitur  invidia. 

1  The  Trojan,  who  -  exchanged"  armour  with  Diomede  the 
Greek,  xpvata.  \a\K«i<av,  fKar6n^oi  fvieaftoiuv  :  Horn.  11.  vi. 
234.  Homer  remarks,  Kpovltiris  <f>pti>as  f£f\fro  (deprived  him 
of  sense). 

142 


BOOK    IX.  xciv-xcvn 

for  mead  wine.  So  great  a  fool  even  you,  Glaucus,1 
never  were,  I  fancy,  who  gave  gold  to  him  who  gave 
you  bronze.  Does  any  man  ask  a  gift  of  sweets  for 
a  gift  of  bitters?  He  may  have  it,  but  only  if  he 
drinks  it  with  hellebore.2 


XCV 

ATHENAGORAS  was  Alphius  before,  now  he  becomes 
Olphius  after  that  he  has  married  a  wife.3 


XCVs 

"  Is  the  name  '  Athenagoras '  a  real  one,"  you 
ask,  Callistratus.  May  I  be  hanged»  if  I  know  who 
Athenagoras  is  !  But  imagine,  Callistratus,  I  men- 
tioned a  real  name  :  not  I,  but  your  friend  Athen- 
agoras is  at  fault.4 

XCVI 

DOCTOR  Herodes  had  stolen  a  drinking-ladle  from 
a  sick  patient.  When  detected  he  said  :  "  You  fool, 
why  then  do  you  drink  ?  "  5 

XCVII 

A  CERTAIN  fellow,  dearest  Julius,  is  bursting  with 
envy ;  because  Rome  reads  me,  he  is  bursting  with 

2  A  supposed  cure  for  madness  :  Hor.  Sat.  u.  iii.  82,  166. 

3  The  point  of  this  epigram  is  unknown. 

4  i.e.  that  he  has  this  name. 

6  He  professes  care  for  his  patient's  health  by  removing 
the  article. 

M3 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

rumpitur  invidia  quod  turba  semper  in  omni 

monstramur  digito,  rumpitur  invidia. 
rumpitur  invidia  tribuit  quod  Caesar  uterque  5 

ius  mihi  natorum,  rumpitur  invidia. 
rumpitur  invidia  quod  rus  mihi  dulce  sub  urbe  est 

parvaque  in  urbe  domus,  rumpitur  invidia. 
rumpitur  invidia  quod  sum  iucundus  amicis, 

quod  conviva  frequens,  rumpitur  invidia.  10 

rumpitur  invidia  quod  amamur  quodque  probamur. 

rumpatur  quisquis  rumpitur  invidia. 

XCVIII 

VINDEMIARUM  Jion  ubique  proventus 
cessavit,  £)vidi ;  pluvia  profuit  grandis. 
centum  Coranus  amphoras  aquae  fecit. 

XCIX 

MARCUS  amat  nostras  Antonius,  Attice,  Musas, 

charta  salutatrix  si  modo  vera  refert, 
Marcus  Palladiae  non  inntianda  Tolosae 

gloria,  quem  l  genuit  Pacis  alumna  Quies. 
tu  qui  longa  potes  dispendia  ferre  viarum,  5 

i,  liber,  absentis  pignus  amicitiae. 
vilis  eras,  fateor,  si  te  nunc  mitteret  emptor : 

grande  tui  pretium  muneris  auctor  erit. 
multum,  crede  mihi,  refert  a  fonte  bibatur 

quae  fluit  an  pigro  quae  stupet  unda  lacu.  10 

1  quam  (Friedlander). 

1  cf.  ii.  xcii. ;  in.  xcv.  6. 
144 


BOOK    IX.  xcvn-xcix 

envy.  He  is  bursting  with  envy  because  in  every 
throng  I  am  always  pointed  out  with  the  finger,  he 
is  bursting  with  envy.  He  is  bursting  with  envy 
because  each  Caesar  gave  me  the  right  of  a  father 
of  three  sons,1  he  is  bursting  with  envy.  He  is 
bursting  with  envy  because  I  have  a  suburban  farm 
and  a  small  house  in  town,  he  is  bursting  with  envy. 
He  is  bursting  with  envy  because  I  am  delightful 
to  my  friends,  because  I  am  often  a  guest,  he  is 
bursting  with  envy.  He  is  bursting  with  envy  be- 
cause I  am  loved  and  my  works  are  approved.  Let 
anyone,  whoever  he  is,  who  is  bursting  with  envy, 
burst ! 2 

XCVIII 

THE  crop  of  the  vineyards  has  not  everywhere 
failed,  Ovidius :  heavy  rains  have  been  profitable. 
Coranus  has  made  a  hundred  jars — of  water.3 

XCIX 

MARCUS  ANTONIUS  loves  my  Muse,  Atticus,  if  only 
his  letter  of  greeting  says  true — Marcus,  cultured 
Tolosa's  indisputable  glory,  whom  Quietude,  the 
nursling  of  Peace,  begot.  Do  you,  who  can  put  up 
with  long  journeys,  go,  my  book,  pledge  of  an  absent 
friendship.  A  poor  gift  you  would  be,  I  own,  if  a 
purchaser  were  sending  you  now;  the  author's  giving 
will  lend  you  goodly  value.  Great  is  the  difference, 
believe  me,  whether  water  is  drunk  from  the  fountain 
as  it  flows,  or  as  it  stagnates  in  a  sluggish  pool. 

2  i.e.  be  cl d.    Rumpatur  —  Siappayflrj.   The  point  of  the 

epigram  seems  to  lie  in  the  two  senses  of  rumioi. 

3  i.e.  to  mix  with  his  wine.    Coranus  is  probably  a  fraudu- 
lent vintner  :  c/.  I.  Ivi. 

145 

VOL.   II.  (. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

C 

DENARIS  tribus  invitas  et  mane  togatum 

observare  iubes  atria,  Basse,  tua, 
deinde  haerere  tuo  lateri,  praecedere  sellam, 

ad  viduas  tecum  plus  minus  ire  decem. 
trita  quidem  nobis  togula  est  vilisque  vetusque 

denaris  tamen  hanc  non  emo,  Basse,  tribus. 


CI 

APPIA,  quam  simili  venerandus  in  Hercule  Caesar 

consecrat,  Ausoniae  maxima  fama  viae, 
si  cupis  Alcidae  cognoscere  facta  prioris, 

disce  :  Libyn  domuit,  aurea  poma  tulit, 
peltatam  Scythico  discinxit  Amazona  nodo,  5 

addidit  Arcadio  terga  leonis  apro, 
aeripedem  silvis  cervum,  Stymphalidas  astris 

abstulit,  a  Stygia  cum  cane  venit  aqua, 
fecundam  vetuit  reparari  mortibus  hydram, 

Hesperias  Tusco  lavit  in  amne  boves.  10 

haec  minor  Alcides  :  maior  quae  gesserit  audi, 

sextus  ab  Albana  quern  colit  arce  lapis, 
adseruit  possessa  malis  Palatia  regnis, 

prima  suo  gessit  pro  love  bella  puer ; 
solus  luleas  cum  iam  retineret  habenas,  15 

tradidit  inque  suo  tertius  orbe  fuit ; 


1  About  two  shillings,  or  double  the  usual  dole  (cf.  in. 
vii.  1)  of  centum,  quadrantes.  Large  doles  were  sometimes 
given:  cf.  IV.  xxvi.  3;  x.  xxvii.  3. 

146 


BOOK    IX.  c-ci 

c 

FOR  three  denarii 1  you  invite  me,  and  bid  me 
don  my  toga  in  the  morning  and  wait  in  your  hall, 
Bassus ;  then  closely  to  attend  you,  to  walk  before 
your  chair,  with  you  to  call  upon  ten  widows  more  or 
less.  Worn  indeed  is  my  poor  toga,  and  cheap  and 
old — yet  for  three  denarii  I  cannot  buy  it,  Bassus. 


CI 

THOU  Appian  Way,  which  revered  Caesar  in  the 
guise  of  Hercules2  hallows,  chiefest  glory  of  Auso- 
nian  ways,  if  thou  desirest  to  know  the  deeds  of 
the  ancient  Alcides,  learn  them.  The  Libyan  he 
subdued,  the  golden  apples  he  won  ;  he  ungirt  the 
Amazonian  targeteer  of  her  Scythian  girdle  ;  he 
crowned  the  spoil  of  the  lion's  skin  with  Arcadia's 
boar  ;  he  freed  the  woods  from  the  brazen-hoofed 
hind,  the  sky  from  the  Stymphalian  birds  ;  from 
the  Stygian  flood  he  returned  with  its  hound  ;  the 
teeming  hydra  he  let  no  more  grow  stronger  by 
death  ;  he  laved  in  the  Tuscan  stream  Hesperian 
oxen.  These  things  wrought  the  lesser  Alcides  ; 
hear  what  that  greater  3  did,  whom  men  worship  at 
the  sixth  stone  from  Alba's  height.  He  redeemed 
the  Palatine  held  by  an  evil  power  ;  4  his  first  wars 
he  waged,  a  boy,  for  his  own  Jove  ;  5  albeit  alone 
he  already  held  the  reins  of  Julian  power,  he  gave 
them  up,  and  in  a  world  that  had  been  his  own 

2  cf.  ix.  Ixiv.  s  Domitian. 

4  By  the  party  of  Vitellius  after  the  death  of  that  emperor. 
6  He  was  besieged  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus 
by  the  Vitellians. 


L  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

cornua  Sarmatici  ter  perfida  contudit  Histri, 

sudantem  Getica  ter  nive  lavit  equum  ; 
saepe  recusatos  parcus  duxisse  triumphos 

victor  Hyperboreo  nomen  ab  orbe  tulit ;  20 

templa  dels,  mores  populis  dedit,  otia  ferro, 

astra  suis,  caelo  sidera,  serta  lovi. 
Herculeum  tantis  numen  non  sufficit  actis  : 

Tarpeio  deus  hie  commodet  ora  patri. 

CII 

QUADRINGENTORUM  reddis  mihi,  Phoebe,  tabellas  : 
centum  da  potius  mutua,  Phoebe,  mihi. 

quaere  alium  cui  te  tarn  vano  munere  iactes : 

quod  tibi  non  possum  solvere,  Phoebe,  meum  e'st. 

GUI 
QUAE  nova  tarn  similis  genuit  tibi  Leda  ministros  ? 

quae  capta  est  alio  nuda  Lacaena  eycno  ? 
dat  faciem  Pollux  Hiero,  dat  Castor  Asylo, 

atque  in  utroque  nitet  Tyndaris  ore  soror. 
ista  Therapnaeis  si  forma  fuisset  Amyclis,  5 

cum  vicere  duas  dona  minora  deas, 
mansisses,  Helene,  Phrygiamque  redisset  in  Iden 

Dardanius  gemino  cum  Ganymede  Paris. 


1  Though   he   had  been   proclaimed   Caesar,   and   was   in 
possession  of  Rome,  he  resigned  the  empire  to  his  father 
Vespasian  and  his  brother  Titus  in  precedence  to  himself, 
boasting,  however,  patri  se  et  fratri  imperium  dedisse,  illos 
tsibi  reddidisse  :  Suet.  Dom.  xiii. 

2  In  his  three  campaigns  against  the  tribes  on  the  Danube. 
As  to  the  shattering  of  the  horn,  cf.  x.  vii.  6. 

148 


BOOK    IX.  ci-cin 

remained  but  the  third;1  thrice  he  shattered  the 
treacherous  horns  of  Sarmatian  Hister ; 2  his  sweat- 
ing steed  thrice  he  bathed  in  Getic  snow  ;  loth  to 
lead  on  triumphs  oft  resigned,3  he  won  a  victor's 
name  from  the  Hyperborean  world ;  temples  he 
gave  the  Gods,  morals  to  the  people,  rest  to  the 
sword,  immortality  to  his  own  kin,  to  heaven  stars, 
wreaths  to  Jove.  The  Deity  of  Hercules  sufficed  not 
for  deeds  so  great :  let  him,  our  God,  lend  his  features 
to  the  Tarpeian  4  Sire  ! 

Oil 

You  return  me,  Phoebus,  my  bond  for  four  hun- 
dred thousand  sesterces ;  rather  give  me  on  loan, 
Phoebus,  a  hundred  thousand.  Look  out  for  some 
one  else  to  whom  you  may  boast  of  so  empty  a  gift ; 
what  I  can't  pay,  Phoebus,  is  my  own.5 

GUI 

WHAT  new  Leda6  bore  you  attendants  so  like? 
What  nude  Spartan  maid  was  ravished  by  another 
swan  ?  Pollux  gives  his  features  to  Hierns,  Castor 
*  gives  his  to  Asylus,  and  in  either  face  their  sister 
Tyndaris  shines  clear.  Had  such  beauty  existed  at 
Spartan  Amyclae  7  when  a  lesser  gift  o'erweighed  the 
goddesses  twain,8  thou,  Helen,  wouldst  have  stayed 
at  home,  and  Dardan  Paris  have  returned  to  Phrygian 
Ida  with  twin  Ganymedes  ! 

3  cf.  vin.  xv.  5.          4  Jup.  Capitolinus. 

5  cf.  for  a  similar  idea  vm.  xxxvii. 

6  The  mother  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  of  Helen  of  Troy 
(Tyndaris). 

?  Both  Therapnae  and  Amyclae  were  associated  with  Castor 
and  Pollux,  but  the  use  of .  Therapnaeis  is  hard  to  explain. 

8  When  Venus'  promise  to  Paris  of  Helen  overweighed  the 
promises  of  Hera  (Juno)  and  Pallas  in  the  contest  of  beauty. 

J49 


BOOK  X 


LIBER   DECIMUS 


Si  nimius  videor  seraque  coronide  longus 

esse  liber,  legito  pauca  :  libellus  ero. 
terque  quaterque  mihi  finitur  carmine  parvo 

pagina  :  fac  tibi  me  quam  cupis  ipse  brevem. 

II 

FESTINATA  prior,  decimi  mihi  cura  libelli 

elapsum  manibus  nunc  revocavit  opus, 
nota  leges  quaedam  sed  lima  rasa  recenti ; 

pars  nova  maior  erit :  lector,  utrique  fave, 
lector,  opes  nostrae  :  quern  cum  mihi  Roma  dedisset, 

"  Nil  tibi  quod  demus  maius  habemus  "  ait.  6 

'  pigra  per  hunc  fugies  ingratae  flumina  Lethes 

et  meliore  tui  parte  superstes  eris. 
marmora  Messallae  findit  caprificus.  et  audax 

dimidios  Crispi  mulio  ridet  equos  :  10 

at  chartis  nee  furta  nocent  et  saecula  prosunt, 

solaque  non  norunt  haec  monumenta  mori." 

1  i.e.  by  reading  only  the  short  epigrams. 

2  This  book  is  not  the  first  edition,  which  may  have  been 
published  in  95,  but  an  enlarged  edition   published  in  98 
after  Book   XI.      M.    afterwards    issued   a   selection   from 
Books  X.  and  XI. :  cf.  xn.  v.  1-2. 

152 


BOOK    X 


IF  I  seem  too  big  a  book  and  long,  with  my  colo- 
phon delayed,  read  a  few  epigrams :  I  shall  be  a 
little  book.  Often  a  page  of  mine  ends  with  a  small 
poem  :  make  me  as  short  for  yourself  as  you  like.1 

II 

Too  hurried  before,  the  composition  of  my  tenth 
book  has  made  me  now  recall  the  work  that  had 
slipt  from  my  hands.2  You  will  read  some  things 
you  know,  but  polished  lately  by  the  file ;  the  greater 
part  will  be  new  ;  reader,  be  kind  to  both,  reader,  who 
are  my  wealth ;  for  when  Rome  had  given  you  to 
me,  she  said:  "We  have  nothing  greater  to  give 
you.  By  him  will  you  escape  unthankful  Lethe's 
sluggish  stream,  and  will  in  your  better  part  survive. 
Messalla's  marble  the  wild-fig  sunders,  and  boldly 
the  mule-driver  laughs  at  Crispus'  steeds  broken 
in  two.3  But  writings  thefts  do  not  injure,  and 
time  befriends  them,  and  alone  these  monuments 
know  riot  death." 

3  M.  is  M.  Val.  Messalla  Corvinus,  the  patron  of  the  poet 
Tibullus :  cf.  vin.  iii.  5.  The  Crispus  is  probably  C.  Pas- 
sienus  Crispus  of  the  time  of  Claudius,  and  stepfather  of 
Nero. 

153 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

III 

VERNACULORUM  dicta,  sordidum  dentem, 

et  foeda  linguae  probra  circulatricis, 

quae  sulpurato  nolit  empta  ramento 

Vatiniorum  proxeneta  fractorum, 

poeta  quidam  clancularius  spargit  5 

et  volt  videri  nostra.    credis  hoc,  Prisce  ? 

voce  ut  loquatur  psittacus  coturnicis 

et  concupiscat  esse  Canus  ascaules  ? 

procul  a  libellis  nigra  sit  meis  fama, 

quos  rumor  alba  gemmeus  vehit  pinna  :  1 0 

cur  ego  laborem  notus  esse  tarn  prave, 

constare  gratis  cum  silentium  possit  ? 


IV 

Qui  legis  Oedipoden  caligantemque  Thyesten, 

Colchidas  et  Scyllas,  quid  nisi  monstra  legis  ? 
quid  tibi  raptus  Hylas,  quid  Parthenopaeus  et  Attis, 

quid  tibi  dormitor  proderit  Endymion  ? 
exutusve  puer  pinnis  labentibus  ?  aut  qui  5 

odit  amatrices  Hermaphroditus  aquas  ? 
quid  te  vana  iuvant  miserae  ludibria  chartae  ? 

hoc  lege,  quod  possit  dicere  vita  "  Meum  est." 
non  hie  Centauros,  non  Gorgonas  Harpyiasque         , 

invenies  :  hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit.  10 

sed  non  vis,  Mamurra,  tuos  cognoscere  mores 

nee  te  scire  :  legas  Aetia  Callimachi. 


1  Beakers  with  four  nozzles,  said  to  be  in  imitation  of  the 
nose  of  Vatinius,  a  Beneventan  cobbler  in  Nero's  thne :  cf. 
xiv.  xcvi.;  Juv.  v.  46.  As  to  the  sale  of  broken  glass,  c/. 
i.  xli.  3-5. 

154 


BOOK    X.  in-iv 

III 

THE  scurrilities  of  home-born  slaves,  low  railing, 
and  the  foul  insults  of  a  hawker's  tongue,  which  the 
broker  of  shattered  Vatinian  glasses l  would  reject 
as  the  price  of  a  sulphur  match,  a  certain  skulking 
poet  scatters  abroad,  and  would  have  them  appear  as 
mine.  Do  you  believe  this,  Priscus  ?  that  a  parrot 
speaks  with  the  voice  of  a  quail,  and  Canus  2  longs 
to  be  a  bagpipe-player  ?  Far  from  poems  of  mine 
be  black  repute,  poems  which  lustrous  fame 
uplifts  on  pinions  white.  Why  should  I  toil  to 
be  known  so  evilly  when  stillness  can  cost  me 
nothing  ? 


IV 

You,  who  read  of  Oedipus  and  Thyestes  neath  a 
darkened  sun,  of  Colchian  witches  and  Scyllas — of 
what  do  you  read  but  monsters  ?  What  will  the  rape 
of  Hylas  avail  you,  what  Parthenopaeus  and  Attis, 
what  the  sleeper  Endymion  ?  or  the  boy  stript  of 
his  gliding  wings  ?  "  or  Hermaphroditus  who  hates 
the  amorous  waters  ?  Why  does  the  vain  twaddle 
of  a  wretched  sheet  attract  you  ?  Read  this  of  which 
Life  can  say :  "  'Tis  my  own."  Not  here  will  you 
find  Centaurs,  not  Gorgons  and  Harpies  :  'tis  of  man 
my  page  smacks.  But  you  do  not  wish,  Mamurra,  to 
recognize  your  own  manners,  or  to  know  yourself. 
Read  the  Origins  of  Callimachus.3 

2  A  famous  flute-player  :  cf.  iv.  v.  8. 

3  An  Alexandrine  grammarian  and  poet  of  the  third  cen- 
tury B.C.  who  wrote  an  epic  on  the  origins  (Afria)  of  mytho- 
logical stories. 

'55 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 


QUISQUIS  stolaeve  purpuraeve  contemptor 

quos  colere  debet  laesit  impio  versu, 

erret  per  urbem  pontis  exul  et  clivi, 

interque  raucos  ultimus  rogatores 

oret  caninas  panis  inprobi  buccas.  5 

illi  December  longus  et  madens  bruma 

clususque  fornix  triste  frigus  extendat : 

vocet  beatos  clamitetque  felices 

Orciniana  qui  feruntur  in  sponda. 

at  cum  supremae  fila  venerint  horae  10 

diesque  tardus,  sentiat  canum  litem 

abigatque  moto  noxias  aves  panno. 

nee  finiantur  morte  supplicis  poenae, 

sed  modo  severi  sectus  Aeaci  loris, 

nunc  inquieti  monte  Sisyphi  pressus,  15 

nunc  inter  undas  garruli  senis  siccus 

delasset  omnis  fabulas  poetarum  ; 

et  cum  fateri  Furia  iusserit  verum, 

prodente  clamet  conscientia  "Scripsi." 


VI 

FELICES,  quibus  urna  dedit  spectare  coruscum 

solibus  Arctois  sideribusque  ducem. 
quando  erit  ille  dies  quo  campus  et  arbor  et  omnis 

lucebit  Latia  culta  fenestra  nuru  ? 


1  i.e.  of  noble  ladies,  or  of  magistrates  and  senators. 

2  Resorts  of  beggars :  cf.  n.  xix.  3  ;  xn.  xxxii.  10,  25. 

3  Where  he  took  refuge. 

4  i.e.  the  pauper's  bier  (sandapila) :   cf,   n.  Ixxxi.;  viu. 
Ixxv.  B  Ready  to  eat  him. 

156 


BOOK    X.  v-vi 


WHOE'ER  he  be  who,  scorner  of  either  stole  or 
purple/  has  wounded  with  his  wicked  verse  those 
he  should  respect,  let  him  wander  through  the  city, 
exile  from  bridge  and  hill,2  and,  last  amid  the  hoarse- 
throated  beggars,  pray  for  dogs'  morsels  of  vile  bread. 
To  him  may  December  be  long  and  winter  wet,  and 
the  shutting  of  the  archway  3.;  prolong  his  miserable 
chill ;  let  him  call  those  blest,  and  acclaim  those  for- 
tunate, who  are  carried  on  the  litter  of  Orcus.4  But 
when  the  threads  of  his  last  hour  have  been  spun,  and 
his  lingering  day  has  come,  let  him  feel  the  wrangling 
of  dogs,5  and  flap  away  noxious  birds  with  waving 
rags.  Nor  let  his  punishment,  despite  his  prayers, 
be_  closed  by  death  ;  but  now  scored  by  the  scourge 
of  stern  Aeacus,6  now  o'erwhelmed  by  the  moun- 
tainous stone  of  restless  Sisyphus,  now  parching  amid 
the  waters  of  the  blabbing  old  man,7  may  he  weary 
out  all  the  fabled  torments  of  the  poets ;  and  when 
the  Fury  shall  bid  him  confess  the  truth,  may  he 
shriek,  his  conscience  betraying  him  :  "  I  wrote  it."  8 

VI 

HAPPY  are  they  to  whom  Fortune's  urn  has  given 
to  see  our  Captain  ablaze  with  northern  suns  and 
stars !  9  When  shall  that  day  be  whereon  plain  and 
tree  shall  be  radiant,  and  every  casement  dight  with 

6  One  of  the  three  Judges  of  the  Shades. 

7  Tantalus,  whp  was  doomed  to   thirst   in   Tartarus   for 
revealing  the  secrets  of  the  gods. 

8  M.  follows  in  this  ep. ,  often  closely,  the  Ibis  of  Ovid. 

9  This  ep.  was  written  when  the  new  emperor,  Trajan, 
was  expected  from  the  Rhine  in  A.D.  98. 

157 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

quando  morae  dulces  longusque  a  Caesare  pulvis       5 

totaque  Flaminia  Roma  videnda  via  ? 
quando  eques  et  picti  tunica  Nilotide  Mauri 

ibitis  et  populi  vox  erit  una  "  Venit  ?  "  ? 

VII 

NYMPHARUM  pater  amniumque,  Rhene, 

quicumque  Odrysias  bibunt  pruinas, 

sic  semper  liquidis  fruaris  undis 

nee  te  barbara  contumeliosi 

calcatum  rota  conterat  bubulci ;  5 

sic  et  cornibus  aureis  receptis 

et  Romanus  eas  utraque  ripa  : 

Traianum  populis  suis  et  urbi, 

Thybris  te  dominus  rogat,  remittas. 

VIII 

NUBERE  Paula  cupit  nobis,  ego  ducere  Paulam 
nolo :  anus  est.     vellern,  si  magis  esset  anus. 

IX 

UNDENIS  pedibusque  syllabisque 

et  multo  sale  nee  tamen  protervo 

notus  gentibus  ille  Martialis 

et  notus  populis  (quid  invidetis  ?) 

non  sum  Andraemone  notior  caballo.  5 


CUM  tu,  laurigeris  annum  qui  fascibus  intras, 
mane  salutator  limina  mille  teras,  - 

1  Previously  shattered  by  defeat :  cf.  vu.  vii.  3  ;  ix.  ci.  17. 

2  Elegiacs  and  hendecasyllables. 

158 


BOOK    X.  vi-x 

Latin  dames  ?  When  shall  be  hope's  sweet  delays, 
and  the  long  trail  of  dust  behind  Caesar,  and  all 
Rome  visible  on  the  Flaminian  Way  ?  When  will  ye 
come,  ye  knights,  and  ye  painted  Moors  in  your 
tunics  of  Nile,  and  one  voice  of  the  people  go  up, 
"  Does  he  come  ?  "  ? 

VII 

FATHER,  O  Rhine,  of  Nymphs  and  of  all  rivers 
that  drink  the  Thracian  frosts,  so  mayst  thou  alway 
joy  in  limpid  waters,  and  no  insolent  ox-driver's  bar- 
barous wain  trample  roughly  on  thy  head ;  so  mayst 
thou,  with  thy  golden  horns  regained,1  and  a  Roman 
stream  on  either  bank,  flow  on — send  Trajan  back  to 
his  .peoples  and  to  his  city :  so  doth  thy  Lord  Tiber 
entreat  thee. 

VIII 

PAULA  wishes  to  marry  me :  I  decline  to  take 
Paula  to  wife ;  she  is  an  old  woman.  I  might  be 
willing  if  she  were  older. 

IX 

WTITH  my  eleven-footed  and  eleven-syllabled  verse,2 
and  flowing,  yet  not  froward  wit,  I,  that  Martial, 
who  am  known  to  the  nations  and  to  Rome's  peoples 
(why  do  you  envy  me  ?)  am  not  known  better  than 
the  horse  Andraemon. 

X 

WHEN  you,  who  usher  in  the  year  with  laurelled 
axes,3  tread  a  thousand  thresholds  at  morning  levees, 

3  As  consul,  and  the  first  of  the  year.  Men  of  position 
often  did  not  scruple  to  add  to  their  income  by  taking  the 
sportida:  cf.  Juv.  i.  99.  Juv.  (i.  117)  also  alludes  to  the 
grievances  in  consequence  of  poor  clients. 

159 


THE   EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

hie  ego  quid  faciam  ?  quid  nobis,  Paule,  relinquis, 

qui  de  plebe  Numae  densaque  turba  sumus  ? 
qui  me  respiciet  dominum  regemque  vocabo  ?  5 

hoc  tu  (sed  quanto  blandius  !)  ipse  facis. 
lecticam  sellamve  sequar  ?  nee  ferre  recusas, 

per  medium  pugnas  et  prior  isse  lutum. 
saepius  adsurgam  recitanti  carmina  ?  tu  stas 

et  pariter  geminas  tendis  in  ora  manus.  10 

quid  faciet  pauper  cui  non  licet  esse  client!  ? 

dimisit  nostras  purpura  vestra  togas. 

XI 

NIL  aliud  loqueris  quam  Thesea  Pirithoumque 

teque  putas  Pyladi,  Calliodore,  parem. 
disperearn,  si  tu  Pyladi  praestare  matellam 

dignus  es  aut  porcos  pascere  Pirithoi. 
"  Donavi  tamen  "  inquis  "amico  inilia  quinque  5 

et  lotam,  ut  multum,  terve  quaterve  l  togam." 
quid  quod  nil  umquam  Pyladi  donavit  Orestes  ? 

qui  donat  quamvis  plurima,  plura  negat. 

XII 

AEMILIAE  gentes  et  Apollineas  Vercellas 

et  Phaethontei  qui  petis  arva  Padi, 
ne  vivam,  nisi  te,  Domiti,  dimitto  libenter, 

grata  licet  sine  te  sit  mihi  nulla  dies : 
sed  desiderium  tanti  est  ut  messe  vel  una  5 

urbano  releves  colla  perusta  iugo. 

1  lerve  quaterve  Haupt,  terque  quu.tf.rque  codd. 

1  A  method  of  applauding :  cf.  Juv.  iii.  106.     Or  perhaps 
the  allusion  is  to  throwing  kisses  :  cf.  i.  iii.  7. 

160 


BOOK    X.  x-xn 

what  can  I  do  here  ?  What  do  you  leave  to  us,  Paulus, 
us  who  are  of  the  herd  of  Numa  and  a  teeming  crowd? 
Shall  I  greet  as  Lord  and  King  him  who  but  gives 
me  a  glance  ?  This,  and  how  much  more  blandly ! 
you  also  do.  Shall  I  follow  a  litter  or  chair  ?  You 
don't  refuse  even  to  shoulder  one,  and  to  struggle  to 
pass  first  through  the  middle  of  the  mud.  Shall  I 
repeatedly  rise  when  a  man  recites  poems  ?  You  are 
already  standing,  and  put  to  your  lips  both  hands  at 
once.1  What  shall  a  poor  man  do,  debarred  from 
being  a  client  ?  Your  purple  has  ousted  our  togas. 

XI 

You  talk  of  nothing  but  Theseus  and  Pirithous, 
and  think  yourself,  Calliodorus,  the  peer  of  Pylades. 
May  I  be  hanged  if  you  are  fit  to  hand  Pylades  a 
chamber-pot,  or  to  feed  Pirithous'  swine.  "  Yet," 
you  say,  "  I  gave  a  friend  five  thousand,  and  a  toga 
only  three  or  four  times  washed,2  a  considerable 
gift."  And  what  if  Pylades  never  gave  anything  to 
Orestes?3  He  who  gives — however  many  gifts  he 
makes — denies  more. 

XII 

You  are  going  to  the  peoples  on  the  Aemilian 
Way,  and  to  Apollo's  Vercellae,  and  the  fields  by 
the  Po  where  Phaethon  died.  May  I  perish,  but  I 
let  you  go  willingly,  Domitius,  although  without  you 
no  day  is  pleasant  to  me  ;  but  I  can  pay  the  price  of 
regret  that,  even  for  a  single  summer,  you  may  ease 
your  neck  galled  by  the  city's  yoke.  Go,  I  pray,  and 

2  i.e.  nearly  new.     The  phrase  was  apparently  common  : 
Petr.  30. 

3  P.  and  O.  already  shared  in  common. 

161 

VOL.  II.  M 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

i  precor  et  totos  avida  cute  conbibe  soles: 
o  quam  formosus,  dum  peregrinus  eris  ! 

et  venies  albis  non  adgnoscendus  amicis 

livebitque  tuis  pallida  turba  genis.  10 

sed  via  quern  dederit  rapiet  cito  Roma  colorem, 
Niliaco  redeas  tu  licet  ore  niger. 

XIII 

CUM  cathedralicios  portet  tibi  raeda  ministros 

et  Libys  in.longo  pulvere  sudet  eques, 
strataque  non  unas  cingant  triclinia  Baias 

et  Thetis  unguento  palleat  uncta  tuo, 
Candida  Setini  rumpant  crystalla  trientes,  5 

dormiat  in  pluma  nee  meliore  Venus  : 
ad  nocturna  iaces  fastosae  limina  moechae 

et  madet  heu  !  lacrimis  ianua  surda  tuis, 
urere  nee  miserum  cessant  suspiria  pectus. 

vis  dicam  male  sit  cur  tibi,  Cotta  ?     bene  est.      10 

XIV 

CEDERE  de  nostris  nulli  te  dicis  amicis. 

sed,  sit  ut  hoc  verum,  quid,  rogo,  Crispe,  facis? 
mutua  cum  peterem  sestertia  quinque,  negasti, 

non  caperet  nummos  cum  gravis  area  tuos. 
quando  fabae  modium  nobis  farrisve  dedisti,  5 

cum  tua  Niliacus  rura  colonus  aret  ? 


162 


BOOK  X.  xn-xiv 

drink  into  your  greedy  pores  the  fullness  of  the  sun- 
shine— oh,  how  comely  you  will  be  while  you  are 
abroad !  And  you  will  return  not  to  be  recognized 
by  your  white-faced  friends,  and  a  pallid  crowd  will 
envy  your  cheeks.  But  Rome  will  quickly  efface 
the  tan  your  tour  will  have  given  you,  though  you 
came  home  swarthy  with  an  Egyptian's  face. 

XIII 

ALTHOUGH  a  travelling-coach  carries  your  lolling 
minions,  and  a  Libyan  outrider  sweats  in  a  long 
trail  of  dust,  and  your  cushioned  couches  surround 
more  than  one  warm  bath,  and  your  sea-bath  is  pale 
with  the  tinge  of  your  perfumes ;  although  draughts 
of  Setine  fill  to  bursting  your  transparent  crystal, 
and  in  fairer  down  Venus  herself  does  not  repose  ; 
by  night  you  lie  on  the  threshold  of  a  capricious 
mistress,  and  her  deaf  door  is  wet,  alas  !  with  your 
tears,  and  sighs  do  not  cease  to  scorch  your  unhappy 
breast.  Do  you  wish  me  to  say  why  it  is  ill  with 
you,  Cotta?  Because  it  is  well.1 

XIV 

You  say  that  you  yield  to  none  of  my  friends  in 
love.  Yet  to  make  this  true,  what,  I  ask,  Crispus, 
do  you  do  ?  When  I  was  asking  you  for  a  loan  of 
five  thousand  sesterces  you  refused  it,  although  your 
heavy  coffer  could  not  hold  your  moneys.  When 
did  you  give  me  a  peck  of  beans,  or  of  spelt,  al- 
though a  tenant  by  the  Nile  tills  fields  of  yours? 

1  C.  is  so  well  off  he  has  to  invent  miseries. 

163 

M    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

quando  brevis  getidae  missa  est  toga  tempore  brumae  ? 

argenti  venit  quando  selibra  mihi  ? 
nil  aliud  yideo  quo  te  credamus  amicum 

quam  quod  me  corarn  pedere,  Crispe,  soles.          10 

XV 

DOTATAE  uxori  cor  harundine  fixit  acuta, 
sed  dum  ludit,  Aper.     ludere  novit  Aper. 

XVI 

Si  donare  vocas  promittere  nee  dare,  Gai, 

vincam  te  donis  muneribusque  meis. 
accipe  Callaicis  quidquid  fodit  Astur  in  arvis, 
•    aurea  quidquid  habet  divitis  unda  Tagi, 
quidquid  Erythraea  niger  invenit  Indus  in  alga,        5 

quidquid  et  in  nidis  unica  servat  avis, 
quidquid  Agenoreo  Tyros  inproba  cogit  aheno  : 

quidquid  habent  omnes,  accipe,  quomodo  das. 

XVII 

SATURNALICIO  Macrum  fraudare  tribute 

frustra,  Musa,  cupis  :  non  licet :  ipse  petit ; 

sollemnesque  iocos  nee  tristia  carmina  poscit 
et  queritur  nugas  obticnisse  meas. 

mensorum  longis  sed  mine  vacat  ille  libellis.  5 

Appia,  quid  facies,  si  legit  ista  Macer  ? 


1  Pearls :  cf.  v.  xxxvii.  4. 

2  The  phoenix  :  cf.  vi.  Iv.  2. 

3  The  purple  of  Tyre. 

164 


BOOK    X.  xiv-xvn 

When  was  a  short  toga  sent  me  in  chill  winter's 
season  ?  When  did  a  half-pound  of  silver  plate 
come  to  me?  I  see  no  other  reason  why  I  should 
believe  you  friend,  than  that  you  are  wont>  Crispus, 
to  break  wind  in  my  presence. 

XV 

His  well-dowered  wife's  heart  Aper  transfixed  with 
a  sharp  arrow,  but  it  was  in  sport.  Aper  is  a  clever 
sportsman. 

XVI 

IF  you  call  it  bounty  to  promise  and  not  to  give, 
Gaius,  I  will  surpass  you  by  my  bounties  and  offer- 
ings. Receive  all  wealth  the  Asturian  mines  in 
Gallician  fields,  all  wealth  rich  Tagus'  golden  wave 
possesses,  all  the  swarthy  Indian  discovers  in  Eastern 
seaweed,1  and  all  the  solitary  bird  2  treasures  in  its 
nest,  all  Agenor's  city,  cheating  Tyre,  stores  in  her 
caldron.8  All  wealth  of  all  men  receive — in  your 
fashion  of  giving ! 

XVII 

You  wish  in  vain,  Muse,  to  defraud  Macer  of  his 
Saturnalian  tribute :  it  can't  be  ;  he  himself  asks 
for  it,  and  he  claims  the  customary  jokes  and  no 
melancholy  poems,  and  complains  that  my  flippancies 
have  become  dumb.  But  at  present  he  has  time  to 
look  at  the  long  reports  of  his  surveyors.  Appian 
Way,4  what  will  you  do  if  Macer  reads  these 
poems  ? 5 

4  Of  which  Macer  was  curator. 

6  i.e.  you  will  be  neglected  if  M.  devotes  his  leisure,  not 
to  reports,  but  to  poetry. 

'65 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XVIII 

NEC  vocat  ad  cenam  Marius,  nee  munera  mittit, 
nee  spondet,  nee  volt  credere,  sed  nee  habet. 

turba  tamen  non  dest  sterilem  quae  curet  amicum. 
eheu  !  quam  fatuae  sunt  tibi,  Roma,  togae  ! 

XIX 

NEC  doctum  satis  et  parum  severunr, 

sed  non  rusticulum  tamen  libellum 

facundo  mea  Plinio  Thalia 

i  perfer  :  brevis  est  labor  peractae 

altum  vincere  tramitem  Suburae.  5 

illic  Orphea  protinus  videbis 

udi  vertice  lubricum  theatri 

mirantisque  feras  avemque  regis, 

raptum  quae  Phryga  pertulit  Tonanti ; 

illic  parva  tui  domus  Pedonis  10 

caelata  est  aquilae  minore  pinna. 

sed  ne  tempore  non  tuo  disertam 

pulses  ebria  ianuam  videto  : 

totos  dat  tetricae  dies  Minervae, 

dum  centum  studet  auribus  virorum  15 

hoc  quod  saecula  posterique  possint 

Arpinis  quoque  conparare  chartis. 

seras  tutior  ibis  ad  lucernas  : 

haec  hora  est  tua,  cum  furit  Lyaeus, 

cum  regnat  rosa;  cum  madent  capilli :  20 

tune  me  vel  rigidi  legant  Catones. 


1  Pliny    the    younger,    advocate   and    letter-writer.     M. 
mentions  him  also  in  v.  Ixxx.  13,  and  vu.  Ixxxiv.  1. 

2  i.e.    the    ascent    up   the    Esquiline   from    the    Subura. 
Somewhere  on  this  path  was  the  Lacus  Orphei,  one  of  the 
reservoirs  of   Rome,   where  was  a  statue  of   Orpheus   sur- 
rounded by  beasts  listening  to  his  song. 

166 


BOOK    X.  XVIH-XIX 

XVIII 

MARIUS  invites  no  one  to  dinner,  and  sends  no 
presents,  and  is  surety  for  no  one,  and  is  unwilling 
to  lend — in  fact  he  has  nothing.  Yet  a  crowd  is  at 
hand  to  court  so  unprofitable  a  friend.  Alas  !  what 
dolts,  O  Rome,  your  clients  are  ! 

XIX 

THIS  little  book,  not  learned  enough,  nor  very  strict 
in  tone,  yet  not  all  unrefined,  go,  my  Thalia,  and 
carry  to  eloquent  Pliny  : l  short  is  your  labour,  when 
you  have  crossed  the  Subura,  in  breasting  the  steep 
path.2  There  you  will  at  once  notice  Orpheus,  spray- 
sprinkled,  crowning  his  drenched  audience,3  and  the 
wild  beasts  marvelling  at  his  song,  and  the  Monarch's 
bird  4  that  bore  to  the  Thunderer  the  ravished  Phry- 
gian ;  there  stands  the  modest  dwelling  of  your 
own  Pedo,5  its  frieze  graven  with  eagle  of  lesser  wing. 
But  take  heed  you  give  no  drunken  knock  on  Elo- 
quence's door  at  a  time  that  is  not  yours ;  all  the 
day  he  devotes  to  serious  study,  while  he  prepares 
for  the  ears  of  the  Hundred  Court 6  that  which  time 
and  posterity  may  compare  even  with  Arpinum's 
pages.7  Safer  will  you  go  at  the  time  of  the  late- 
kindled  lamps ;  that  hour  is  yours  when  Lyaeus  is 
in  revel,  when  the  rose  is  queen,  when  locks  are 
drenched.  Then  let  even  unbending  Catos  read  me. 

8  Friedlander,  however,  explains  thcatrum  "semicircular 
pool  with  steps."  For  tkeatrum  =  audience,  cf  (as  Housman 
does^ — Ov.  Met.  xi.  25. 

4  Jupiter's  eagle  that  carried  off  Ganymede  :  cf.  I.  vi. 

s  P.  Albinovanus,  an  epic  poet  and  epigrammatist  of  the 
Augustan  age. 

'  cf.  vi.  xxxviii.  5.  7  Cicero's. 

167 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF   MARTIAL 

XX 

DUCIT  ad  auriferas  quod  me  Salo  Celtiber  oras, 

pendula  quod  patriae  visere  tecta  libet, 
tu  mihi  simplicibus,  Mani,  dilectus  ab  annis 

et  praetextata  cultus  amicitia, 
tu  facis ;  in  terns  quo  non  est  alter  Hiberis  5 

dulcior  et  vero  dignus  amore  magis. 
tecum  ego  vel  sicci  Gaetula  mapalia  Poeni 

et  poteram  Scythicas  hospes  amare  casas. 
si  tibi  mens  eadem,  si  nostri  mutua  cura  est, 

in  quocumque  loco  Roma  duobus  erit.  10 

XXI 

SCRIBERE  te  quae  vix  intellegat  ipse  Modestus 
et  vix  Claranus  quid  rogo,  Sexte,  iuvat  ? 

non  lectore  tuis  opus  est  sed  Apolline  libris : 
iudice  te  maior  Cinna  Marone  fuit. 

sic  tua  laudentur  sane  :  mea  carmina,  Sexte,  5 

grammaticis  placeant,  ut  sine  grammaticis. 

XXII 

CUR  spleniato  saepe  prodeam  mento 
albave  pictus  sana  labra  cerussa, 
Philaeni,  quaeris  ?     basiare  te  nolo. 

1  Learned  commentators. 

2  i.e.  an  interpreter. 

168 


BOOK  X.  xx-xxn 

XX 

THAT  Celtiberian  Salo  draws  me  to  gold-bearing 
shores,  that  I  fain  would  see  on  the  hillside  the  roofs 
of  my  native  land,  you  are  the  cause,  Manius,  dear 
to  me  from  my  ingenuous  years,  and  wooed  with 
boyhood's  friendship ;  than  whom  none  else  in  Hi- 
beria's  land  is  more  sweet  to  me,  and  of  genuine 
love  more  worthy.  At  your  side  could  I  have  wel- 
comed the  sun-parched  Carthaginian's  Gaetulian  huts 
and  the  hospitality  of  Scythian  steads.  If  your  heart 
be  as  mine,  if  you  have  a  mutual  love  for  me,  then, 
in  whatever  place,  for  us  twain  it  will  be  Rome. 


XXI 

WHY,  I  ask,  do  you,  Sextus,  like  writing  what 
hardly  Modestus  himself,  and  hardly  Claranus,1  could 
understand  ?  Your  books  do  not  require  a  reader, 
but  an  Apollo;2  in  your  judgment  Cinna3  was 
greater  than  Maro.  On  these  terms  let  your  books 
be  praised  by  all  means ;  let  my  poems,  Sextus,  please 
commentators — so  as  to  do  without  commentators. 


XXII 

"  WHY  do  I  often  go  abroad  with  a  plastered  chin, 
and  my  healthy  lips  painted  with  white  lead  ?  "  Do 
you  ask,  Philaenis  ?  I  don't  want  to  kiss  you. 

8  A  friend  of  Catullus,  who  wrote  a  long  and  obscure  epic 
called  Zmyrna;  cf.  Cat.  xciv.  He  is 'probably  "Cinna  the 
poet "  of  Shak.  Jul.  Caes.  m.  Hi.  32, 

169 


XXIII 

IAM  numerat  placido  felix  Antonius  aevo 

quindecies  actas  Primus  Olympiadas 
praeteritosque  dies  et  totos  respicit  annos 

nee  metuit  Lethes  iam  propioris  aquas, 
nulla  recordanti  lux  est  irigrata  gravisque  ;  5 

nulla  fuit  cuius  non  meminisse  velit. 
ampliat  aetatis  spatium  sibi  vir  bonus  :  hoc  est 

vivere  bis,  vita  posse  priore  frui. 

XXIV 

NATALES  mihi  Martiae  Kalendae, 
lux  formosior  omnibus  Kalendis, 
qua  mittunt  mihi  munus  et  puellae, 
quinquagensima  liba  septimamque 
vestris  addimus  hanc  focis  acerram.  5 

his  vos,  si  tamen  expedit  roganti, 
annos  addite  bis  precor  novenos, 
ut  nondum  nimia  piger  senecta 
sed  vitae  tribus  areis l  peractis 
lucos  Elysiae  petam  puellae.  10 

post  hunc  Nestora  nee  diem  rogabo.2 

XXV 

IN  matutina  nuper  spectatus  harena 
Mucius,  inposuit  qui  sua  membra  focis, 

1  areiS  Aid.,  aureis  codd.,  auribusli.,  arcubus  Housman. 

2  post  hoc  Friedl. ,  Nestora  Heins. ,  nee  hora  vel  nethora  codd. 

1  i.e.  seventy-five  years :  cf.  vii.  xl.  6. 

2  Tacitus  draws  a  very  different  picture  :  cf.  the  Index 
under  ' '  Primus. " 

*  Who    ordinarily    received    gifts   on  that  day :    cf.   v. 
Ixxxiv.    11. 

170 


BOOK    X.  xxin-xxv 

XXIII 

Now  in  his  j>lacid  age  happy  Antonius  Primus 
reckons  fifteen  Olympiads  gone,1  and  he  looks  back 
upon  past  days  and  the  vista  of  his  years,  and  fears 
not  Lethe's  wave  now  drawing  nigh.  No  day,  as  he 
reviews  it,  is  unwelcome  and  distressing  to  him, 
none  has  there  been  he  would  not  wish  to  recall. 
A  good  man  2  widens  for  himself  his  age's  span ;  he 
lives  twice  who  can  find  delight  in  life  bygone. 

XXIV 

MY  natal  kalends  of  March,  day  fairer  to  me  than 
all  the  kalends,  on  .which  girls,  too,  send  3  me  a  gift, 
for  the  fifty-seventh  time  cakes  and  this  censer  of 
incense  I  lay  on  your  altars.  To  these  years — but 
so  that  it  be  expedient  on  my  asking — add,  I  pray, 
twice  nine  years,  that  I,  not  as  yet  dull  with  too 
protracted  age,  but  when  life's  three  courses 4-'  are 
run,  may  reach  the  groves  of  the  Elysian  dame.5 
Beyond  this  Nestor's  span  I  will  not  crave  even 
a  day  more. 

XXV 

IF  Mucius,6  whom  of  late  you  saw  one  morning 
in  the  arena,  when  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the  fire, 

*  Boyhood,  manhood,  old  age.  Housman's  conjecture 
arcitbus  =  arcs,  i.e.  the  four  segments  into  which  the  full 
circle  of  life  (100  years)  is  divided :  cf.  Manil.  ii.  844-55. 
M.,  being  fifty -seven,  would  in  eighteen  years  have  com- 
pleted three  arcs,  and  not  have  reached  the  last  arc  of  too 
protracted  age.  6  Proserpine. 

6  cf.  I.  xxi. ;  vin.  xxx.  In  this  ep.  M.  takes  a  different 
view  of  the  event,  saying  that  the  criminal  representing 
Mucius  chooses  the  lesser  evil  of  losing  only  a  limb. 

171 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

si  patiens  durusque  tibi  fortisque  videtur, 
Abderitanae  pectora  plebis  habes. 

nam  cum  dicatur  tunica  praesente  molesta 
"  Ure  manum/'  plus  est  dicere  "  Non  facio." 


XXVI 

VARE,  Paraetonias  Latia  modo  vite  per  urbes 

nobilis  et  centum  dux  memorande  viris, 
at  nunc,  Ausonio  frustra  promisse  Quirino, 

hospita  Lagei  litoris  umbra  iaces. 
spargere  non  licuit  frigentia  fletibus  ora,  5 

pinguia  nee  maestis  addere  tura  rogis. 
sed  datur  aeterno  victurum  carmine  nomen : 

numquid  et  hoc,  fallax  Nile,  negare  potes  ? 

XXVII 

NATALI,  Diodore,  tuo  conviva  senatus 
accubat  et  rarus  non  adhibetur  eques, 

et  tua  tricenos  largitur  sportula  nummos. 
nemo  tamen  natum  te,  Diodore,  putat. 

XXVIII 

ANNORUM  nitidique  sator  pulcherrime  mundi, 
publica  quern  primum  vota  precesque  vocant, 

1  The  people  of  Abdera  in  Thrace  were,  like  the  Boeotians, 
notorious  for  their  stupidity  :  cf.  Juv.  x.  50. 

2  The  tunica  molesta :  cf.  iv.  Ixxxvi.  8. 

8  With    which    a    centurion    kept  discipline   among   his 
soldiers. 

4  i.e.  whose  return  to  Rome  we  were  expecting. 

172 


BOOK    X.  xxv-xxviti 

seem  to  you  enduring,  and  unflinching,  and  strong, 
you  have  the  intelligence  of  Abdera's  x  rabble.     For, 
when  it  is  said  to  you,  while  the  torturing  tunic  2  is~ 
by  you,  "Burn  your  hand,"  it  is  the  bolder  thing  to 
say  "  I  refuse." 

XXVI 

NOTABLE  but  lately  with  Latin  vine-rod3  mid 
Egypt's  cities,  and  a  captain  of  renown  to  thy 
hundred  soldiers,  yet  now,  O  thou  who  wert  pro- 
mised in  vain  to  Ausonian  Quirinus,4  thou  liest, 
an  alien  ghost,  on  the  Lagaean  shore.  'Twas  not 
allowed  me  to  sprinkle  thy  chill  cheek  with  my 
tears,  nor  to  shed  rich  incense  on  thy  lamented 
pyre.  But  there  is  given  thee  a  name  that  shall 
live  in  deathless  song :  nay,  treacherous  Nile,  canst 
thou  refuse  that  too  ? 5 

XXVII 

ON  your  birthday,  Diodorus,  the  Senate  is  your 
guest  at  dinner,  and  few  are  the  knights  not  in- 
vited, and  your  dole  lavishes  thirty  sesterces  on  each 
guest^6  Yet  no  one,  Diodorus,  imagines  you  had  a 
father.7 

XXVIII 

FATHER,  most  fair,  of  the  years  and  of  the  bright 
universe,  whom  first  of  all  Gods  public  vows  and 

6  i.e.  as  well  as  his  body  ? 

6  About  double  the  usual  dole.     A  larger  than  the  usual 
dole  was  sometimes  given  (sportula  major)  :  cf.  vm.  xlii.  1  ; 
ix.  c.  1. 

7  Non  natus,  a  phrase  expressing  insignificance  :  cf.  vm. 
Ixiv.  18. 

173 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

pervius  J  exiguos  habitabas  ante  penates, 
plurima  qua  medium  Roma  terebat  iter  : 

nunc  tua  Caesareis  cinguntur  limina  donis  5 

et  fora  tot  numeras,  lane,  quot  ora  geris. 

at  tu,  sancte  pater,  tanto  pro  munere  gratus, 
ferrea  perpetua  claustra  tuere  sera. 

XXIX 
QUAM  mihi  mittebas  Saturni  tempore  lancem, 

misisti  dominae,  Sextiliane,  tuae  ; 
et  quam  donabas  dictis  a  Marte  Kalendis, 

de  nostra  prasina  est  synthesis  empta  toga, 
iam  constare  tibi  gratis  coepere  .puellae  :  5 

muneribus  futuis,  Sextiliane,  meis. 

XXX 

O  TEMPERATAE  dulce  Formiae  litus, 
vos,  cum  severi  fugit  oppidum  Martis 
et  inquietas  fessus  exuit  curas, 
Apollinaris  omnibus  locis  praefert. 
non  ille  sanctae  dulce  Tibur  uxoris,  5 

nee  Tusculanos  Algidosve  secessus, 
Praeneste  nee  sic  Antiumque  miratur ; 
non  blanda  Circe  Dardanisve  Caieta 
desiderantur,  nee  Marica  nee  Liris, 
nee  in  Lucrina  lota  Salmacis  vena.  10 

1  perciua  5-,  praevius  codd. 

1  The  old  temple  of  Janus  was  near  the  Roman  Forum, 
and  represented  Janus  with  two  faces  (Janus  Geminus). 
Domitian  built  a  new  temple,  giving  Janus  four  faces  (quadri- 
frons),  in  the  Forum  Transitorium  :  cf.  vui.  ii.  The  other 
three  forums  were  the  F.  Romanum,  F.  Julii,  and  F.  August!. 

174 


BOOK    X.  xxvui-xxx 

prayers  implore,  thou,  pervious  once,  didst  afore- 
time inhabit  a  petty  house,  wherethrough  populous 
Rome  wore  her  thoroughfare.  Now  is  thy  threshold 
encircled  with  Caesarean  offerings,  and  as  many 
forums  thou  numberest,  Janus,  as  the  faces  thou 
bearest.1  But  do  thou,  hallowed  sire,  thankful  for 
a  gift  so  great,  guard  thy  iron  portals  with  a  bolt 
ever  undrawn.2 

XXIX 

THE  dish  you  used  to  send  me  at  Saturn's  season 
you  have  sent  to  your  mistress,  Sextilianus,  and,  at 
the  cost  of  the  toga  you  used  to  give  me  on  the 
kalends  named  after  Mars,  has  been  bought  a  green 
dinner  dress.  Now  your  girls  begin  to  cost  you 
nothing :  it  is  out  of  my  presents,  Sextilianus,  you 
carry  on  your  amours. 

XXX 

O  TEMPERATE  Formiae,  darling  shore !  When  he 
flies  from  stern  Mars'  town,  and  weariedly  puts 
off  distracting  cares,  'tis  you  Apollinaris  prefers  to 
every  spot.  Not  so  does  he  admire  his  blameless 
wife's  darling  Tibur,  nor  the  retreats  of  Tusculum 
or  Algidus,  not  so  does  he  admire  Praeneste  and 
Antium ;  Circe's  witching  headland  or  Dardan 
Caieta 3  are  not  longed  for,  nor  Marica 4  nor  Liris, 
nor  Salmacis6  bathed  in  the  Lucrine's  waters.  Here 

2  When  the  gate  of  the  temple  was  shut,  it  was  a  sign 
that  Rome  was  not  at  war. 

3  Circeii  and  Caieta  :  cf.  v.  i.  5. 

4  A  Latin  nymph,  who  had  a  temple  and  grove  at  Min- 
turnae  at  the  mouth  of  the  Liris  in  Campania. 

5  Probably  a  spring  that  fell  into  the  Lucrine  lake,  and 
bearing  the  same  name  as  the  spring  in   Caria  associated 
with  the  legend  of  Hermaphroditus  :  cf.  vi.  Ixviii.  10.     It  is 
here  alluded  to  under  the  name  of  the  nymph  S. 

175 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

hie  summa  leni  stringitur  Thetis  vento  ; 

nee  languet  aequor,  viva  sed  quies  ponti 

pictam  phaselon  adiuvante  fert  aura, 

sicut  puellae  non  amantis  aestatem 

niota  salubre  purpura  venit  frigus.  15 

nee  saeta  longo  quaerit  in  mari  praedam, 

sed  a  cubili  lectuloque  iactatam 

spectatus  alte  lineam  trahit  piscis. 

si  quando  Nereus  sentit  Aeoli  regnum, 

ridet  procellas  tuta  de  suo  mensa :  20 

piscina  rhombum  pascit  et  lupos  vernas, 

natat  ad  magistruni  delicata  muraena, 

nomenculator  mugilem  citat  notum 

et  adesse  iussi  prodeunt  senes  mulli. 

frui  sed  istis  quando,  Roma,  permittis  ?         25 

quot  Formianos  inputat  dies  annus 

negotiosis  rebus  urbis  haerenti  ? 

o  ianitores  vilicique  felices  ! 

dominis  parantur  ista,  serviunt  vobis. 

XXXI 

ADDIXTI  servum  nummis  here  mille  ducentis, 

ut  bene  cenares,  Calliodore,  semel. 
nee  bene  cenasti :  mullus  tibi  quattuor  emptus 

librarum  cenae  pompa  caputque  fuit. 
exclamare  libet :  "  Non  est  hie,  inprobe,  non  est       5 

piscis  :  homo  est ;  hominem,  Calliodore,  comes." 

XXXII 

HAEC  mihi  quae  colitur  violis  pictura  rosisque, 
quos  referat  voltus,  Caediciane,  rogas  ? 

1  Nereus  was  a  sea-god,  and  Aeolus  the  god  of  the  winds. 
176 


BOOK   X.  xxx-xxxn 

Ocean's  surface  is  ruffled  by  a  gentle  breeze ;  yet 
is  not  the  sea-floor  still,  but  a  slumberous  swell 
bears  on  the  gaudy  shallop  with  the  assisting  air,  as 
from  the  fluttering  of  a  girl's  purple  fan,  when  she 
shuns  the  heat,  there  comes  refreshing  cool.  The 
line  seeks  not  its  prey  in  the  distant  sea,  but  the 
fish,  descried  from  above,  draws  down  the  cord  cast 
from  bed  or  couch.  If  ever  Nereus  feel  the  power 
of  Aeolus,1  the  table,  safe-supplied  from  its  own 
store,  laughs  at  the  storm;  the  fishpond  feeds  turbot 
and  home-reared  bass ;  to  its  master's  call  swims  the 
dainty  lamprey ;  the  usher  summons  a  favourite 
gurnard,  and,  bidden  to  appear,  aged  mullets  put  forth 
their  heads.  But  when  dost  thou,  Rome,  permit  to 
enjoy  those  delights  ?  How  many  days  of  Fo'rmiae 
does  the  year  put  to  the  credit  of  one  tied  to  city 
business  ?  O  happy  porters  and  bailiffs !  Those 
delights  are  procured  for  your  masters,  they  belong 
to  you ! 

XXXI 

You  sold  a  slave  yesterday  for  twelve  hundred 
sesterces,  Calliodorus,  that  you  might  dine  well  once. 
You  have  not  dined  well:2  a  four-pound  mullet 
which  you  bought  was  the  ornament  and  chief  dish 
of  your  dinner.  A  man  may  cry,  "This  is  not  a 
fish,  not  a  fish,  you  profligate :  'tis  a  man ;  a  man, 
Calliodorus,  is  what  you  eat." 

XXXII 

THIS  picture  which  is  honoured  by  me  with  violets 
and  roses — ask  you,  Caedicianus,  whose  features  it 

2  M.  plays  on  the  meaning  of  bene,  "sumptuously,"  or 
"  well "  in  a  moral  sense. 

177 
VOL.   II.  N 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

talis  erat  Marcus  mediis  Antonius  annis 

Primus :  in  hoc  iuvenem  se  videt  ore  senex. 

ars  utinam  mores  animumque  effingere  posset !          5 
pulchrior  in  terris  nulla  tabella  foret. 

XXXIII 

SIMPLICIOR  priscis,  Munati  Galle,  Sabinis, 

Cecropium  superas  qui  bonitate  senem, 
sic  tibi  consoceri  claros  retinere  penates 

perpetua  natae  det  face  casta  Venus, 
ut  tu,  si  viridi  tinctos  aerugine  versus  5 

forte  malus  livor  dixerit  esse  meos, 
ut  facis,  a  nobis  abigas,  nee  scribere  quemquam 

talia  contendas  carmina  qui  legitur. 
hunc  servare  modum  nostri  novere  libelli, 

parcere  personis,  dicere  de  vitiis.  10 

XXXIV 

Di  tibi  dent  quidquid,  Caesar  Traiane,  mereris 
et  rata  perpetuo  quae  tribuere  velint : 

qui  sua  restituis  spoliate  iura  patrono 
(libertis  exul  non  erit  ille  suis), 

dignus  es  ut  possis  tutum l  servare  clientem :  5 

ut  (liceat  tantum  vera  probare)  potes. 

1  tutum  5-,  totum  codd. 

1  Referred  to  also  in  x.  xxiii. 

2  Epicurus  (cf.  vii.  Ixix.  3)  or  Socrates. 

I78 


BOOK   X.  xxxn-xxxiv 

presents  ?  Such  was  Marcus  Antonius  Primus l  in 
manhood's  years :  in  this  face  the  old  man  sees 
himself  in  youth.  Would  that  art  could  limn  his 
character  'and  mind !  More  beautiful  in  all  the 
world  would  no  painting  be ! 


XXXIII 

SIMPLER  than  the  Sabines  of  old,  Munatius  Gallus, 
who  surpass  the  old  Athenian2  in  goodness,  so 
may  chaste  Venus  grant  you,  by  your  daughter's 
unsevered  marriage  tie,  to  keep  your  alliance  with 
her  father-in-law's  illustrious  house,  if  you,  when 
perchance  malicious  envy  shall  call  mine  verses 
steeped  in  poisonous  gall,  thrust  that  envy  from 
me,  as  you  do,  and  urge  that  no  man  writes  such 
poems  who  is  read.  This  measure  my  books  learn 
to  keep,  to  spare  the  person,  to  denounce  the  vice. 


XXXIV 

MAY  the  gods  grant  you,  Caesar  Trajanus,  what- 
e'er  you  deserve,  and  be  willing  to  confirm  for  all 
time  what  they  have  bestowed.  You,  who  give 
back  to  the  plundered  patron  his  rights  (no  more 
will  he  be  his  own  freedman's  exile),3  are  worthy 
of  power  to  keep  the  client  safe,  power  which — 
may  you  only  be  allowed  to  prove  it  true ! — you 
have. 

3  Trajan  had  forbidden  clients  and  freedmen  to  bring  ac- 
cusations against  their  patrons :  Plin.  Pan.  42.  M.  now 
pleads  for  the  client. 

179 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXXV 

OMNES  Sulpiciam  legant  puellae 
uni  quae  cupiunt  viro  placere  ;        » 
omnes  Sulpiciam  legant  mariti 
uni  qui  cupiunt  placere  nuptae. 
non  haec  Colchidos  adserit  furorem,  5 

diri  prandia  nee  refert  Thyestae  ; 
Scyllam,  Byblida.nec  fuisse  credit: 
sed  castos  docet  et  probos  amores, 
lusus  delicias  facetiasque. 

cuius  carmina  qui  bene  aestimarit,  10 

nullam  dixerit  esse  nequiorem, 
nullam  dixerit  esse  sanctiorem. 
tales  Egeriae  iocos  fuisse 
udo  crediderim  Numae  sub  antro. 
hac  condiscipula  vel  hac  magistra  15 

t        esses  doctior  et  pudica,  Sappho : 
sed  tecum  pariter  simulque  visam 
durus  Sulpiciam  Phaon  amaret. 
frustra  :  namque  ea  nee  Tonantis  uxor 
nee  Bacchi  nee  Apollinis  puella  20 

erepto  sibi  viveret  Caleno. 

XXXVI 

INPROBA  Massiliae  quidquid  fumaria  cogunt, 
accipit  aetatem  quisquis  ab  igne  cadus, 

a  te,  Munna,  venit :  miseris  tu  mittis  amicis 
per  freta,  per  longas  toxica  saeva  vias ; 

1  Medea.  2  cf.  in.  xlv.  1.  * 

1  One  of  the  native  Italian  Camenae,  or  Muses,  said  to 

have  been  the  wife  of  Nilnia,  an  early  king  of  Rome  :  cf.  vi. 

xlvii.  3.  .  The  grot  was  at  the  Porta  Capena,  or  at  Aricia. 
4  cf.  x.  xxxviii. 

180 


BOOK   X^  xxxv-xxxvi 

XXXV 

LET  all  young  wives  read  Sulpicia,  who  wish  to 
please  their  lords  alone ;  let  all  husbands  read  Sul- 
picia, who  wish  to  please  their  brides  alone.  She 
claims  not  as  her  theme  the  frenzy  of  the  Colchian 
dame,1  nor  does  she  recount  Thyestes'  dreadful 
feast ; 2  Scylla  and  Byblis  she  does  not  believe  ever 
were ;  but  she  describes  pure  and  honest  love, 
toyings,  endearments,  and  raillery.  He  who  shall 
weigh  well  her  poems  will  say  no  maid  was  so  roguish, 
will  say  no  maid  was  so  modest.  Such — I  would 
believe  —  were  Egeria's3  pleasantries  in  Numa's 
dripping  grot.  With  her  as  your  school-mate,  or 
with  her  as  your  teacher,  you  would  have  been  more 
learned,  Sappho,  and  have  been  chaste ;  but  coy 
Phaon,  had  he  seen  her  with  Sappho  and  by  her 
side,  would  have  loved  Sulpicia.  In  vain ;  for  neither 
as  the  Thunderer's  spouse,  nor  as  Bacchus'  or  Apollo's 
mistress,  were  her  Calenus  taken  from  her,  would 
she  live.4 

XXXVI 

WHATEVER  Massilia's  vile  smoke-rooms  store,5  what- 
ever jar  acquires  its  age  from  the  fire,  comes  from 
you,  Munna ;  to  your  wretched  friends  you  consign 
over  the  sea,  over  long  roads,  deadly  poison,  and  not 

5  Wine  was  matured  by  being  kept  over  the  heat  of  the 
furnace,  but  at  Massilia  the  process  appears  to  have  been 
overdone,  and  a  taste  of  smoke  clung  to  the  wine :  cf.  in. 
Ixxxii.  23  ;  xui.  cxxiii. 

181 


THE   EPIGRAMS  "OF   MARTIAL 

nee  facili  pretio  sed  quo  contenta  Falerni  5 

testa  sit  aut  cellis  Setia  cara  suis. 
non  venias  quare  tarn  longo  tempore  Romam, 

haec  puto  causa  tibi  est,  ne  tua  vina  bibas. 

XXXVII 

IURIS  et  aequarum  cultor  sanctissime  legum, 

veridico  Latium  qui  regis  ore  forum, 
municipi,  Materne,  tuo  veterique  sodali 

Callaicum  mandas  si  quid  ad  Oceanum — . 
an  Laurentino  turpis  in  litore  ranas  5 

et  satius  tenues  ducere  credis  acus, 
ad  sua  captivum  quam  saxa  remittere  mullum, 

visus  erit  libris  qui  minor  esse  tribus  ? 
et  fatuam  summa  cenare  pelorida  mensa 

quosque  tegit  levi  cortice  concha  brevis  10 

ostrea  Baianis  quam  non  liventia  testis, 

quae  domino  pueri  non  prohibente  vorent  ? 
hie  olidam  clamosus  ages  in  retia  volpem 

mordebitque  tuos  sordida  praeda  canes  : 
illic  piscoso  modo  vix  educta  profundo  15 

inpedient  lepores  umida  lina  meos. 
dum  loquor  ecce  redit  sporta  piscator  inani, 

venator  capta  maele  superbus  adest : 
omnis  ab  urbano  venit  ad  mare  cena  macello. 

Callaicum  mandas  si  quid  ad  Oceanum — .  20 

1  M.  proceeds  to   compare,    with   regard  to  advantages, 
Laurentum  with  Spain,  whither  he  is  no\r  returning.     He  is 

182 


BOOK   X.  xxxvi-xxxvn 

at  an  easy  price,  but  at  one  which  would  satisfy  a 
crock  of  Falernian  or  Setine,  dear  to  its  own  cellars. 
Why  you  do  not  come  to  Rome  after  such  an  interval 
this  is,  I  think,  your  reason  :  you  shun  drinking  your 
own  wines. 

XXXVII 

MOST  conscientious  student  of  law  and  of  just 
statutes,  who  with  your  truthful  tongue  rule  the 
Latin  forum,  if  you  have  any  commission,  Maternus, 
to  the  Spanish  ocean  for  your  townsman  and  old 
comrade — or  1  do  you  think  it  better  on  Laurentum's 
shore  to  pull  up  ugly  frogs  and  thin  needle-fish,2 
than  to  return  to  its  own  rocks  the  captive  mullet 
which  shall  seem  to  you  of  less  than  three  pounds  ? 
and  to  dine  on  a  tasteless  Sicilian  lobster  set  at  the 
top  of  the  table,  and  on  fish  which  with  a  smooth 
coating  a  small  shell  covers,3  than  on  oysters  that 
do  not  envy  the  shell-fish  of  Baiae,  and  which  slaves 
devour,  unforbid  by  their  master  ?  Here  with  shouts 
you  will  drive  into  your  toils  a  stinking  vixen,  and 
the  foul  quarry  will  bite  your  hounds ;  there  the 
net,  scarce  drawn  just  now  from  the  deep  that  teems 
with  fish,  will,  all  dripping,  enmesh  my  own  hares. 
While  I  speak,  see,  your  fisherman  comes  home  with 
empty  creel,  your  huntsman  is  at  hand,  exulting  in  a 
badger  caught !  all  your  dinner  by  the  sea  comes 
from  the  city  market.  If  you  have  any  commission 
to  the  Spanish  ocean — 

supposed  to  be  at  Laurentum  paying  a  farewell  visit  to 
Maternus. 

2  From  the  marshes  of  Laurentum. 

8  Probably  mussels  (mituli) :  cf.  ill.  Ix.  4. 

i83 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXXVIII 

O  MOLLES  tibi  quindecim,  Calene, 

quos  cum  Sulpicia  tua  iugales 

indulsit  deus  et  peregit  annos  ! 

o  nox  omnis  et  hora,  quae  notata  est 

cans  litoris  Indici  lapillis  !  5 

o  quae  proelia,  quas  utrimque  pugnas 

felix  lectulus  et  lucerna  vidit 

nimbis  ebria  Nicerotianis ! 

vixisti  tribus,  o  Calene,  lustris  : 

aetas  haec  tibi  tota  conputatur  10 

et  solos  numeras  dies  mariti. 

ex  illis  tibi  si  diu  rogatam 

lucem  redderet  Atropos  vel  unam, 

malles  quam  Pyliam  quater  senectam. 

XXXIX 

CONSULE  te  Bruto  quod  iuras,  Lesbia,  natam. 

mentiris.     nata  es,  Lesbia,  rege  Numa  ? 
sic  quoque  mentiris.   namque,  ut  tua  saecula  narrant, 

ficta  Prometheo  diceris  esse  luto. 

XL 

SEMPER  cum  mihi  diceretur  esse 
secreto  mea  Polla  cum  cinaedo, 
inrupi,  Lupe.  non  erat  cinaedus. 

XLI 

MENSE  novo  lani  veterem,  Proculeia,  maritum 
deseris  atque  iubes  res  sibi  habere  suas. 

1  cf.  VL  Iv.  3.  2  Fifteen  years. 

3  One  of  the  Fates.          *  i.e.  the  age  of  Nestor. 
184 


BOOK    X.  XXXVIII-XLI 

XXXVIII 

OH,  those  fifteen  years,  rapturous  to  you,  Calenus, 
those  wedded  years  which,  along  with  your  Sulpicia, 
the  god  accorded  and  accomplished!  O  nights  and 
hours,  each  marked  with  the  precious  pebbles  of 
India's  shore  !  Oh,  what  conflicts  of  endearments, 
what  rivalry  of  love  between  you  did  your  happy 
couch  witness,  and  the  lamp  o'ersated  with  showers 
of  Nicerotian  l  perfume !  You  have  lived,  O  Calenus, 
three  lustres : 2  this  is  all  the  life  you  sum,  and  you 
count  your  married  days  alone.  Of  them  should 
Atropos 3  restore  you  even  one  long  asked  for,  you 
would  choose  it  rather  than  four  spans  of  Pylian 4 
old  age. 

XXXIX 

You  swear,  Lesbia,  you  were  born  when  Brutus 
was  consul  :  you  lie.  Were  you  born,  Lesbia,  when 
Numa  was  king  ?  There,  too,  you  lie  ;  for — as  your 
generations  declare — you  are  said  to  be  fashioned  of 
Promethean  clay.6 

XL 

SINCE  my  Polla  was  always  being  reported  to  me 

as    consorting   in    secret   with    a  ,   I  broke    in 

upon  them,  Lupus.     He  was  not  a 6 

XLI 

IN  Janus'  opening  month  you  abandon  your  old 
husband,  Proculeia,  and  bid  him  keep  his  own 

8  i.e.  incredibly  old.     P.  fashioned  the  human  race  out  of 
clay  :  cf.  ix.  xlv.  8. 
6  i.e.  but  much  worse. 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

quid,  rogo,  quid  factum  est?  subiti  quae  causa  doloris, 
nil  mihi  respondes  ?    dicam  ego,  praetor  erat : 

constatura  fuit  Megalensis  purpura  centum  5 

milibus,  ut  nimium  munera  parca  dares, 

et  populare  sacrum  bis  milia  dena  tulisset. 
discidium  non  est  hoc,  Proculeia  :  lucrum  est. 

XLII 

TAM  dubia  est  lanugo  tibi,  tarn  mollis  ut  illam 

halitus  et  soles  et  levis  aura  terat. 
celantur  simili  ventura  Cydonea  lana, 

pollice  virgineo  quae  spoliata  nitent. 
fortius  inpressi  quotiens  tibi  basia  quinque,  5 

barbatus  labris,  Dindyme,  fio  tuis. 

'  XLIII 

SEPTIMA  iam,  Phileros,  tibi  conditur  uxor  in  agro. 
plus  nulli,  Phileros,  quam  tibi  reddit  ager. 


QUINTE  Caledonios  Ovidi  visure  Britannos 
et  viridem  Tethyn  Oceanumque  patrem, 

ergo  Numae  colles  et  Nomentana  relinquis 
otia,  nee  retinet  rusque  focusque  senem  ? 

1  Tuas  res  tibi  habeto  was  the  legal  formula  of  divorce. 

2  In  honour  of  Cybele,  the  Great  Mother  of  the  Gods.     It 
was  scenic,  and  held  in  April. 

1 86 


BOOK    X.  XLI-XLIV 

property.1  What,  I  ask,  what  is  the  matter  ?  What 
is  the  reason  of  this  sudden  resentment  ?  Do  you 
answer  me  nothing  ?  I  will  tell  you  :  he  was  praetor. 
The  purple  robe  of  the  Megalensian 2  festival  was 
likely  to  cost  a  hundred  thousand  sesterces,  should 
you  give  even  a  too  thrifty  show,  and  the  Plebeian 
festival 3  would  have  run  off  with  twenty  thousand. 
This  is  not  divorce,  Proculeia :  it  is  good  business. 

XLII 

So  shadowy  is  the  down  on  thy  cheeks,  so  soft 
that  a  breath,  or  the  sun,  or  a  soft  breeze,  rubs  it 
away.  With  such  a  fleecy  film  are  veiled  ripening 
quinces,  that  gleam  brightly  when  plucked  by  maiden 
fingers.  Whenever  I  have  too  strongly  impressed 
upon  thy  cheek  five  kisses,  I  become,  Dindymus, 
bearded  from  thy  lips. 

XLIII 

ALREADY,  Phileros,  your  seventh  wife  is  being 
buried  on  your  land.  Better  return  than  yours, 
Phileros,  land  makes  to  no  man.4 

XLIV 

QUINTUS  OVIDIUS,  purposing  to  visit  the  Caledonian 
Britons,  and    green  Tethys,  and  father  Ocean,  can' 
it  be   you    desert  the  hills  of  Numa  and  Nomentan 
ease,  and  do  not  your  fields  and  fireside  hold  you 

3  The  Ludi  Plebeii,  held  in  November  in  the  Flaminian 
Circus. 

*  i.e.  he  succeeds  to  their  estates  :  cf.  n.  Ixv.  4;  v.  xxxvii. 
24. 

187 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

gaudia  tu  differs  :  at  non  et  stamina  differt  5 

Atropos  atque  omnis  scribitur  hora  tibi. 

praestiteris  caro  (quis  non  hoc  laudet  ?)  amico 
ut  potior  vita  sit  tibi  sancta  fides ; 

sed  reddare  tuis  tandem  mansure  Sabinis 

teque  tuas  numeres  inter  amicitias.  10 

XLV 

Si  quid  lene  mei  dicunt  et  dulce  libelli, 
si  quid  honorificum  pagina  blanda  sonat, 

hoc  tu  pingue  putas  et  costam  rodere  mavis, 
ilia  Laurentis  cum  tibi  demus  apri. 

Vaticana  t>ibas,  si  delectaris  aceto  :  5 

non  facit  ad  stomachum  nostra  lagona  tuum. 

XLVI 

OMNIA  vis  belle,  Matho,  dicere.     die  aliquando 
et  bene  ;  die  neutrum  ;  die  aliquando  male. 

XLvn 

VITAM  quae  faciunt  beatiorem, 

iucundissime  Martial  is,  haec  sunt :  . 

res  non  parta  labore  sed  relicta ; 

non  ingratus  ager,  focus  perennis ; 

lis  numquam,  toga  rara,  mens  quieta ;  5 

vires  ingenuae,  salubre  corpus  ; 

prudens  simplicitas,  pares  amici, 

convictus  facilis,  sine  arte  mensa  ; 

1  One  of  the  Fates. 

2  i.  e.  whom  you  promised  to  accompany. 

3  Consider  yourself  as  well  as  your  friends. 

4  This  person  requires  (like  Baeticus  in  in.  cxxvii.)  his 
edibles  to  be  full-flavoured.    Pliny  (N.H.  xv.  32  and  33)  con- 

188 


BOOK   X.  XLIV-XLVII 

back  in  your  old  age  ?  Enjoyment  you  put  off,  but 
Atropos l  does  not  also  put  off  her  spinning,  and 
every  hour  is  scored  against  you.  You  will  have 
shown  to  your  dear  friend2 — who  would  not  praise 
this? — that  your  sacred  word  is  more  to  you  than 
life  ;  yet  return  to  your  Sabine  farm,  and  there  at 
length  abide,  and  count  yourself  one  of  your  own 
friends.3 

XLV 

IF  my  little  books  contain  anything  delicate  and 
toothsome,  if  my  flattering  page  has  any  ring  of 
eulogy,  this  you  call  tasteless4  and  prefer  to  gnaw  a 
rib,  although  I  offer  you  the  loin  of  a  Laurentine  boar. 
You  may  drink  Vatican  if  you  are  pleased  with 
vinegar :  my  wine-jar  does  not  suit  your  stomach. 

XLVI 

You-  want  all  you  say  to  be  smart,  Matho.  Say 
sometimes  what  also  is  good ;  say  what  is  middling ; 
say  sometimes  what  is  bad. 

XLVII 

THE  things  that  make  life  happier,  most  genial 
Martial,  are  these :  means  not  acquired  by  labour, 
but  bequeathed  ;  fields  not  unkindly,  an  ever  blazing 
hearth ;  no  lawsuit,  the  toga  seldom  worn,  a  quiet 
mind ;  a  free  man's  strength,5  a  healthy  body ; 
frankness  with  tact,  congenial  friends,  good-natured 
guests,  a  board  plainly  spread ;  nights  not  spent 

trasts  the  pinguis  sapor  of  olives,  bay-leaves,  walnuts,  and 
almonds  with  (inter  alia)  the  sweetness  of  figs  and  the  softness 
(lenitas)  of  milk. 

6  i.e.  the  natural  strength  of  a  gentleman,  not  the  coarse 
strength  of  a  labourer  :  cf.  in.  xlvi.  6  ;  vi.  xi.  6. 

189 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

nox  non  ebria  sed  soluta  curis, 

non  tristis  torus  et  tamen  pudicus  ;  10 

somnus  qui  facial  breves  tenebras  : 

quod  sis  esse  velis  nihilque  malis ; 

summum  nee  metuas  diem  nee  optes. 


XLVIII 

NUNTIAT  octavam  Phariae  sua  turba  iuvencae, 

et  pilata  redit  tiamque  subitque+  cohors.1 
temperat  haec  thermas,  nimios  prior  hora  vapores 

halat,  et  inmodico  sexta  Nerone  calet. 
Stella,  Nepos,  Cani,  Cerialis,  Flacce,  venitis  ?  5 

septem  sigma  capit,  sex  sumus,  adde  Lupum. 
exoneraturas  ventrem  mihi  vilica  malvas 

adtulit  et  varias  quas  habet  hortus  opes, 
in  quibus  est  lactuca  sedens  et  tonsile  porrum, 

nee  dest  ructatrix  mentha  nee  herba  salax  ;  10 
secta  coronabunt  rutatos  ova  lacertos 

et  madidum  thynni  de  sale  sumen  erit. 
gustus  in  his ;  una  ponetur  cenula  mensa, 

haedus  inhumani  raptus  ab  ore  lupi, 
et  quae  non  egeant  ferro  structoris  ofellae  15 

et  faba  fabrorum  prototomique  rudes ; 

1  redit  iam  subiitque  cohors  Paley. 

1  The  goddess  Isis,  whose  temple  was  closed  at  the  eighth 
hour  :  cf.  Boissier,  Rel.  Rom.  vol.  ii.  ch.  2  (3). 

4  Leeks  were  of  two  kinds  (cf.  in.  xlvii.  8),  capitatum, 
where  the  bulbs  were  allowed  to  grow  ou  the  top  of  the 

190 


BOOK    X.  XLVII-XLVIII 

in  wine,  but  freed  from  cares,  a  wife  not  prudish 
and  yet  pure  ;  sleep  such  as  makes  the  darkness 
brief:  be  content  with  what  you  are,  and  wish 
no  change ;  nor  dread  your  last  day,  nor  long 
for  it. 

XLVIII 

HER  crowd  of  priests  announces  to  the  Egyptian 
heifer  l  the  eighth  hour,  and  the  praetorian  guard 
now  returns  to  camp  and  another  takes  its  place. 
This  hour  tempers  the  warm  baths,  the  hour  before 
breathes  heat  too  great,  and  the  sixth  is  hot  with 
the  excessive  heat  of  Nero's  baths.  Stella,  Nepos, 
Canius,  Cerialis,  Flaccus,  do  you  come  ?  My  crescent 
couch  takes  seven :  we  are  six,  add  Lupus.  My 
bailiff's  wife  has  brought  me  mallows  that  will  un- 
load the  stomach,  and  the  various  wealth  the  garden 
bears  ;  amongst  which  is  squat  lettuce  and  clipped 
leek,2  and  flatulent  mint  is  not  wanting  nor  the  sa- 
lacious herfr; 3  sliced  eggs  shall  garnish  lizard-fish 4 
served  with  rue,  and  there  shall  be  a  paunch  drip- 
ping from  the  tunny's  brine.  Herein  is  your  whet : 
the  modest  dinner  shall  be  served  in  a  single  course 
— a  kid  rescued  from  the  jaws  of  a  savage  wolf,5 
and  meat-balls  to  require  no  carver's  knife,  and 
beans,  the  food  of  artisans,  and  tender  young  sprouts ; 

stalk,  and  sectile,  tonsile,  or  sectivum,  where  the  stalks  were 
cut  young  :  cf.  xi.  lii.  6  ;  see  Mayor  on  Juv.  iii.  293. 
8  Eruca,  or  rocket :  cf.  in.  Ixxv.  3. 

*  A  poor  fish  :  cf.  vn.  Ixxviii.  1. 

*  i.e.  damaged,  and  thus  cheaper.     But  the  flesh  of  an 
animal   that   bad  been  mangled  by  a  wolf  or  other  savage 
beast  was  supposed  to  be   more   tender:  ef.  in.  xlvii.   11; 
Plut.  Symp.  ii.,  qndest.  9. 

191 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

pullus  ad  haec  cenisque  tribus  iam  perna  superstes 

addetur.     saturis  mitia  poma  dabo, 
de  Nomentana  vinum  sine  faece  lagona, 

quae  bis  Frontino  consule  trima1  fuit.  20 

accedent  sine  felle  ioci  nee  mane  timenda 

libertas  et  nil  quod  tacuisse  velis : 
de  'prasino  conviva  meus  venetoque  loquatur, 

nee  faciunt  2  quemquam  pocula  nostra  reum. 

XLIX 

CUM  potes  amethystinos  trientes 
et  nigro  madeas  Opimiano, 
propinas  modo  conditum  Sabinum 
et  dicis  mihi,  Cotta,  "  Vis  in  auro  ?  " 
quisquam  plumbea  vina  volt  in  auro  ?  5 


FRANGAT  Idumaeas  tristis  Victoria  palmas, 

plange,  Favor,  saeva  pectora  nuda  manu  ; 
mutet  Honor  cultus,  et  iniquis  munera  flammis 

mitte  coronatas,  Gloria  maesta,  comas, 
heu  facinus !  prima  fraudatus,  Scorpe,  iuventa  5 

occidis  et  nigros  tarn  cito  iungis  equos. 
curribus  ilia  tuis  semper  properata  brevisque 

cur  fuit  et  vitae  tarn  prope  meta  tuae  ? 

1  trima  Heins,  prima  codd.  *  facient  ft. 

1  Friedlander  (Int.  p.  65)  states  that  Frontinus  was  made 
"consul  for  the  second  time  along  with  Trajan  on  Feb.  20, 
98."  But  can  bis  =  iteruml  Housman  takes  it  with  trima, 
and  Athenaeus,  i.  27  B,  says  that  the  wine  was  "  fit  for 
drinking  after  five  years."  To  read  prima  would  make 
M.  offer  an  undrinkable  wine  :  cf.  i.  cv. 

192 


BOOK    X.  XLVIII-L 

to  these  a  chicken,  and  a  ham  that  has  already  sur- 
vived three  dinners,  shall  be  added.  When  you  have 
had  your  fill  1  will  give  you  ripe  apples,  wine  without 
lees  from  a  Nomentan  flagon,  which  was  three  years 
old  in  Frontinus'  second  consulship.1  To  crown 
these  shall  be  jests  without  gall,  and  a  freedom  not 
to  be  dreaded  the  next  morning,  and  no  word  you 
would  wish  unsaid ;  let  my  guest  converse  of  the 
Green  and  the  Blue ;  2  my  cups  do  not  make  any 
man  a  defendant. 

XLIX 

ALTHOUGH  you  drink  from  cups  of  amethyst  and 
are  drenched  with  dark  Opimian,  you  give  me  to 
drink  Sabine  3  just  laid  down,  and  say  to  me,  Cotta  : 
"  Will  you  drink  in  gold  ?  "  Does  any  man  wish  to 
drink  leaden  wines  4  in  gold  ? 


LET  Victory  sadly  break  her  Idumaean 5  palms  ; 
beat,  Favour,  with  cruel  hand  thy  naked  breast ; 
let  Honour  change  her  garb ;  and  do  thou,  sorrowful 
Glory,  cast  on  the  cruel  flames  the  offering  of  thy 
crowned  locks.  Ah,  crime  of  fate  !  Robbed,  Scorpus,6 
of  thy  first  youth,  art  thou  fallen,  and  so  soon  dost 
yoke  Death's  dusky  steeds !  That  goal,  whereto 
thy  car  sped  ever  in  brief  course;  and  swiftly  won, 
why  to  thy  life  also  was  it  so  nigh  ? 

2  Factions  of  the  charioteers  in  the  circus. 

3  A  cheap  wine  :  cf.  Hor.   Od.  i.  xx.  1.      Opimian  was  a 
celebrated  vintage  of  Caecuban :  cf.  i.  xxvi.  7  ;  in.  xxvi.  3. 

4  i.e.  worthless  ones  :  cf.  I.  xcix.  15  (bad  coin). 

5  Idume  was  S.  of  Judaea,   and   was   celebrated  for  its 
palms.  6  cf.  X.  liii. 

193 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LI 

SIDERA  iam  Tyrius  Phrixei  respicit  Agni 

Taurus  et  alternum  Castora  fugit  hiemps  ; 
ridet  ager,  vestitur  humus,  vestitur  et  arbor, 

Ismarium  paelex  Attica  plorat  Ityn. 
quos,  Faustina,  dies,  quales  tibi  Roma  fRavennaef  l  5 

abstulit !  o  soles,  o  tunicata  quies  ! 
o  nemus,  o  fontes  solidumque  madentis  harenae 

litus  et  aequoreis  splendidus  Anxur  aquis, 
et  non  unius  spectator  lectulus  undae, 

qui  videt  hinc  puppes  fluminis,  inde  maris !  10 

sed  nee  Marcelli  Pompeianumque,  nee  illic 

sunt  -triplices  thermae  nee  fora  iuncta  quater, 
nee  Capitolini  summum  penetrale  Tonantis 

quaeque  nitent  caelo  proxima  templa  suo. 
dicere  te  lassum  quotiens  ego  credo  Quirino  :  15 

"Quae  tua  sunt,  tibi  habe:  quae  mea,  redde  mihi." 


LII 

THELYN  viderat  in  toga  spadonem, 
damnatam  Numa  dixit  esse  moecham. 


LIII 

ILLE  ego  sum  Scofpus,  clamosi  gloria  Circi, 
plausus,  Roma,  tui  deliciaeque  breves, 

Friedl. 


1  The  Sun  is  in  Gemini,  having  passed  through  Aries  and 
Taurus.  May  has  begun. 

*  Philomela  (the  nightingale)  laments  Itys,  whom  her 
sister  Procne  (the  swallow)  slew. 

194 


BOOK    X.  LI-LIII 

LI 

Now  looks  the  Tyrian  bull  back  on  the  star  of 
Phryxus'  ram,  and  winter  has  fled  from  Castor  in 
Pollux'  place  ;  l  smiling  is  the  field,  earth  is  putting 
on  her  garb,  the  tree  too  its  garb,  the  Attic  adulteress 
mourns  for  Thracian  Itys.2  What  days,  Faustinus, 
what  fair  days  of  Ravenna  3  has  Rome  robbed  you 
of  ;  O  sunny  hours,  O  rest  in  tunic  clad  !  O  thou 
grove,  O  ye  founts,  and  thou  shore  of  firm  moist 
sand,  and  Anxur  gleaming  in  the  ocean  waves,  and 
the  couch  that  views  more  waters  than  one,  that 
marks  on  this  side  the  river's*  ships,  on  that  the 
sea's  !  Aye,  and  no  theatres  of  Marcellus  and  of 
Pompey  are  there,  nor  there  are  the  three  warm 
baths,5  nor  the  four  forums  joined,  nor  the  august 
shrine  of  the  Capitoline  Thunderer,  and  the  temples 
that  gleam  nigh  their  own  heaven.6  How  often  do 
I  fancy  you  in  your  weariness  saying  to  Quirinus  : 
"What  is  yours  keep  to  yourself;  what  is  mine 
restore  to  me." 

Lir 

NUMA  saw  the  eunuch  Thelys  in  a  toga,  and  said 
he  was  a  convicted  adulteress.7 

LIII 

THAT  Scorpus  am  I,  the  glory  of  the  clamorous 
Circus,  thy  applause,  O  Rome,  and  thy  short-lived 

8  Perhaps  the  name  of  his  villa  (Paley).  But  the  text  is 
corrupt. 

4  The  canal  following  the  course  of  the  Appian  Way  :  cf. 
x.  Iviii.  4.  6  Agrippa's,  Nero's,  and  Titus'. 

of  the  Ge 


6  The  temple  of  the  Gens  Flavia  :  cf.  ix.  i.  S. 
cf.  ii.  xxxix.  2. 


195 
o  2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

invida  quern  Lachesis  raptum  trieteride  nona, 
dum  numerat  palmas,  credidit  esse  senem. 

LIV 

M  ENS  AS,  Ole,  bonas  ponis,  sed  ponis  opertas. 
ridiculum  est :  possum  sic  ego  habere  bonas. 


LV 

ARUECTUM  quotiens  Marulla  penem 
pensavit  digitis  diuque  mensa  est, 
libras  scripula  sextulasque  dicit ; 
idem  post  opus  et  suas  palaestras 
loro  cum  similis  iacet  remisso, 
quanto  sit  levior  Marulla  dicit. 
non  ergo  est  manus  ista,  sed  statera. 

LVI 

Tons,  Galle,  iubes  tibi  me  servire  diebus 

et  per  Aventinum  ter  quater  ire  tuum. 
eximit  aut  reficit  dentem  Cascellius  aegrum ; 

infestos  oculis  uris,  Hygine,  pilos ; 
non  secat  et  tollit  stillantem  Fannius  uvam ; 

tristia  servorum  stigmata  delet  Eros ; 
enterocelarum  fertiir  Podalirius  Hermes  : 

qui  sanet  ruptos  die  mihi,  Galle,  quis  est  ? 

1  One  of  the  Fates. 
196 


BOOK    X.  LHI-LVI 

darling.  Me,  snatched  away  in  my  ninth  three 
years'  span,  jealous  Lachesis,1  counting  my  victories, 
deemed  old  in  years. 

LIV 

You  lay  out,  Olus,  handsome  tables,  but  you  lay 
them  out  covered.  Absurd !  I  can  possess  in  this 
fashion  handsome  tables. 


LV 

OGNI  volta  che  Manilla  ha  pesato  colle  dita  1'eretto 
membro,  e  lungo  tempo  lo  misurato,  ne  dice  le  libre, 
gli  scrupoli  ed  i  grani.  Parimenti  dopo  1'opera  e 
le  sue  giostre,  quando  giace  simile  ad  un  rilasciato 
cuojo,  Marulla  dice  di  quanto  sia  piu  leggiero. 
Questa  dunque  non  e  una  mano  ma  una  stadera. 


LVI 

ALL  day,  Gallus,  you  bid  me  serve  you,  and  thrice, 
four  times  to  mount  your  Aventine.  Cascellius  draws 
or  stops  the  decayed  tooth  ;  the  hairs  that  wound 
the  eyes  you,  Hyginus,  sear ;  without  cutting  Fan- 
nius  heals  a  suppurating  uvula;  the  degrading  brands 
on  slaves  Eros  obliterates ;  of  hernia  Hermes  is  held 
a  very  Podalirius.2  Who  is  there,  Gallus,  to  mend 
the  ruptured?3 

2  The  physician  of  the  Greek  camp  before  Troy. 
8  i.e.  those  broken  down  (cf.  ix.  Ivii.  4)  by  fatigue.    There 
is  a  play  on  ruptos. 


I97 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LVII 

ARGENTI  libram  mittebas  ;  facta  selibra  est, 
sed  piperis.     tanti  non  emo,  Sexte,  piper. 

LVIII 

ANXURIS  aequorei  placidos,  Frontine,  recessus 

et  propius  Baias  litoreamque  domum, 
et  quod  iiihumanae  Cancro  fervente  cicadae 

non  novere  nemus,  flumineosque  lacus 
dum  colui,  doctas  tecum  celebrare  vacabat  5 

Pieridas  ;  nunc  nos  maxima  Roma  terit. 
hie  inihi  quando  dies  meus  est  ?    iactamur  in  alto 

urbis,  et  in  sterili  vita  labore  perit, 
dura  suburban!  dum  iugera  pascimus  agri 

vicinosque  tibi,  sancte  Quirine,  lares.  10 

sed  non  solus  amat  qui  nocte  dieque  frequentat 

limina  nee  vatem  talia  damna  decent, 
per  veneranda  mihi  Musarum  sacra,  per  omnes 

iuro  deos,  et  non  officiosus  amo. 

LIX 

CONSUMPTA  est  uno  si  lemmate  pagina,  transis, 

et  breviora  tibi,  non  meliora,  placent. 
dives  et  ex  omni  posita  est  instructa  macello 

cena  tibi,  sed  te  mattea  sola  iuvat. 
non  opus  est  nobis  nimium  lectore  guloso ;  5 

hunc  volo,  non  fiat  qui  sine  pane  satur. 

1  M.  ironically  assumes  that  the  pepper  must  be  as  valu- 
able as  the  plate  formerly  sent. 

198 


BOOK    X.  LVH-LIX 

LVII 

A  POUND  of  silver  plate  you  used  to  send  me  ;  it 
has  become  half  a  pound,  and  of  pepper  too !  I  don't 
buy  pepper  so  dear,1  Sextus. 

LVIII 

THE  calm  retreat,  Faustinus,  of  Anxur  by  the  sea, 
and  a  nearer  Baiae,  and  a  house  by  the  shore,  and 
the  wood  which  the  troublesome  2  cicadas  have  not 
discovered  when  Cancer  flames,  and  the  fresh-water 
canal — while  I  frequented  these  I  had  leisure  along 
with  you  for  allegiance  to  the  learned  Muses  ;  now 
mightiest  Rome  wears  us  out.  Here  when  is  a  day 
my  own  ?  I  am  tossed  on  the  deep  ocean  of  the 
city,  and  life  is  wasted  in  sterile  toil  while  I  main- 
tain 3  stubborn  acres  of  suburban  land  and  a  house 
near  to  you,  holy  Quirinus.  But  he  is  not  alone  a 
lover  who  day  and  night  haunts  thresholds,  and  such 
loss  of  time  ill  befits  a  poet.  By  the  Muses'  rites,  to 
be  hallowed  by  me,  by  all  the  gods  I  swear :  careless 
client  as  I  am,  I  love  you  yet. 

LIX 

IF  a  column  is  taken  up  by  a  single  subject,  you 
skip  it,  and  the  shorter  epigrams  please  you,  not  the 
better.  A  meal,  rich  and  furnished  from  every 
market,  has  been  placed  before  you,  but  only  a  dainty 
attracts  you.  I  have  no  need  of  a  reader  too  nice : 
I  want  him  who  is  not  satisfied  without  bread. 

2  An  English  traveller  compares  the  chirping  of  the  cicada 
in  Italy  to  the  "scream  of  the  corn-craik." 

3  i.e.  spend  more  on  it  than  it  brings  in  :  c/I  x.  xcvi.  7  ; 
or,  "  live  on  the  produce  of":  cf.  ix.  Ixxx.  2. 

199 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LX 

IURA  trium  petiit  a  Caesare  discipulorum 
adsuetus  semper  Munna  docere  duos. 

LXI 

Hie  festinata  requiescit  Erotion  umbra, 
crimine  quam  fati  sexta  peremit  hiemps. 

quisquis  eris  nostri  post  me  regnator  agelli, 
manibus  exiguis  annua  iusta  dato  : 

sic  lare  perpettio,  sic  turba  sospite  solus  5 

flebilis  in  terra  sit  lapis  iste  tua. 

LXII 

LUDI  magister,  parce  simplici  turbae  : 

sic  te  frequentes  audiant  capillati 

et  delicatae  diligat  chorus  mensae, 

nee  calculator  nee  notarius  velox 

maiore  quisquam  circulo  coronetur.  5 

albae  Leone  flammeo  calent  luces 

tostamque  fervens  lulius  coquit  messem. 

cirrata  loris  horridis  Scythae  pellis, 

qua  vapulavit  "Marsyas  Celaenaeus, 

ferulaeque  tristes,  sceptra  paedagogorum,         10 

cessent  et  Idus  dormiant  in  Octobres  : 

aestate  pueri  si  valent,  satis  discunt. 

LXIII 

MARMORA  parva  quidem  sed  non  cessura,  viator, 
Mausoli  saxis  pyramidumque  legis. 

1  M.  parodies  the  jus  trium  liberorum :  cf.  u.  xci.  6 ;  ix. 
xcvii.  6. 

2  cf.  on  the  same  subject  v.  xxxiv.  and  xxxvii, 

200 


BOOK   X.  LX-LXIII 

LX 

MUNNA,  who  was  accustomed  always  to  teach  two, 
begged  of  Caesar  the  rights  attached  to  three — 
pupils.1 

LXI 

HERE  in  too  early  gloom  rests  Erotion  whom,  by 
crime  of  Fate,  her  sixth  winter  laid  low.  Whoe'er 
thou  shalt  be,  the  lord  after  me  of  my  little  field, 
to  her  tiny  ghost  pay  thou  year  by  year  thy  rites.  So 
may  thy  roof-tree  continue,  so  thy  household  live 
unscathed,  and  in  thy  fields  this  -gravestone  alone 
call  forth  a  tear !  2 

LXII 

SCHOOLMASTER,  spare  your  simple  flock ;  so  in  crowds 
may  curly-headed  boys  listen  to  you,  and  a  dainty 
bevy  round  your  table  be  fond  of  you,  and  no  arith- 
metic master  or  rapid  shorthand  teacher  be  ringed 
with  a  larger  circle.  The  glaring  days  glow  beneath 
flaming  Leo,  and  blazing  July  ripens  the  parched 
grain.  Let  the  Scythian's  hide,  thonged  with  brist- 
ling lashes,  with  which  Marsyas 3  of  Celaenae  was 
scourged,  and  the  alarming  ferules,  sceptres  of 
pedagogues,  rest  and  sleep  till  October's  Ides.  In 
summer  if  boys  are  well,  they  learn  enough. 

LXIII 

A  MARBLE,  O  traveller,  you  read  small  in  truth, 
but  one  that  shall  not  give  place  to  the  stones  of 

3  A  famous  piper  who  challenged  Apollo  to  a  musical 
contest  on  the  terms  that  the  loser  should  be  dealt  with  as 
the  winner  chose.  His  statue  stood  in  the  Forum  :  cf.  n. 
Ixiv.  8. 

2OI 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

bis  mea  Romano  spectata  est  vita  Tarento 
et  nihil  extremos  perdidit  ante  rogos  : 

quinque  dedit  pueros,  totidem  mihi  luno  puellas,      5 
cluserunt  omnes  lumina  nostra  manus. 

contigit  et  thalami  mihi  gloria  rara  fuitque 
una  pudicitiae  mentula  nota  meae. 

LXIV 

CONTIGERIS  regina  meos  si  Polla  libellos, 
non  tetrica  nostros  excipe  fronte  iocos. 

ille  tuus  vates,  Heliconis  gloria  nostri, 
Pieria  caneret  cum  fera  bella  tuba, 

non  tamen  erubuit  lascivo  dicere  versu  5 

"  Si  nee  pedicor,  Cotta,  quid  hie  facio  ?  " 

LXV 

CUM  te  municipem  Corinthiorum 

iactes,  Charmenion,  negante  nullo, 

cur  frater  tibi  dicor,  ex  Hiberis 

et  Celtis  genitus  Tagique  civis  ? 

an  voltu  similes  videmur  esse  ?  5 

tu  flexa  nitidus  coma  vagaris, 

Hispanis  ego  contumax  capillis  ; 

levis  dropace  tu  cotidiano, 

hirsutis  ego  cruribus  genisque  ; 

os  blaesum  tibi  debilisque  lingua  est,  10 

nobis  ilia  fortius  loquentur  : l 

1  iliaf.  loquentur  Haupt,  filia  f.  loquetur  0  ;  Friedlander 
suggests  loqumtiur. 

1  cf.  Lib.  Spect.  i.  5. 
202 


BOOK    X.  LXIII-LXV 

Mausolus l  and  of  the  Pyramids.  Twice  was  my  life 
approved  at  Roman  Tarentos,2  and  ere  my  pyre  at 
last  was  lit  it  forfeited  no  virtue.  Five  sons,  as  many 
daughters  Juno  gave  me ;  the  hands  of  all  closed 
my  eyes.  And  rare  honour  fell  to  my  wedded  lot : 
one  spouse  alone  was  all  that  my  pure  life  knew. 

LXIV 

POLLA,3  queen  of  women,  if  you  shall  handle  my 
little  volumes,  with  no  frowning  look  greet  my 
jests.  He,  your  own  bard,  the  glory  of  our  Helicon, 
although  on  Pierian  trump  he  made  resound  wild 
wars,  yet  did  not  blush  to  write  in  playful  verse  : 
"  If  I  am  not  a  Ganymede,  Cotta,  what  do  I  here?"f 

LXV 

SEEING  that  you  boast  yourself  a  townsman  of  the 
Corinthians,  Charmenion — and  no  one  denies  it — 
why  am  I  called  "brother"  by  you,  I,  who  was  born 
of  the  Iberians  and  Celts,  and  am  a  citizen  of  Tagus? 
Is  it  in  face  we  look  alike  ?  You  stroll  about  sleek 
with  curled  hair,  my  locks  are  Spanish  and  stiff;  you 
are  smoothed  with  depilatory  daily,  I  am  one  with 
bristly  shanks  and  cheeks ;  your  tongue  lisps,  and 
your  utterance  is  feeble ;  my  guts  will  speak  in 

*  A  spot  in  the  Campus  Martius,  where  was  an  altar  of 
Dis  (Pluto)  :  cf.  iv.  i.  8.  The  Ludi  Saeculares  were  cele- 
brated here,  and  had  been  held  by  Claudius  in  A.D.  47,  and 
by  Domitian  in  88.  Noble  ladies  (yvvdiicfs  4-iriffijfj.oi :  Zos. 
n.  v.)  took  part,  and  possibly  they  were  bound  to  be  of 
acknowledged  character  and  virtue. 

3  The  wife  of  Lucan  the  poet :  c/.  vn.  xxi. 

4  This  line  does  not  appear  in  Lucan's  extant  works. 

203 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

tarn  dispar  aquilae  columba  non  est 

nee  dorcas  rigido  fugax  leoni. 

quare  desine  me  vocare  fratrem, 

ne  te,  Charmenion,  vocem  sororem.  15 


LXVI 

Quis,  rogo,  tain  durus,  quis  tarn  fuit  ille  superbus 

qui  iussit  fieri  te,  Theopompe,  cocum  ? 
hanc  aliquis  faciem  nigra  violare  culina 

sustinet,  has  undo  polluit  igne  comas  ? 
quis  potius  cyathos  aut  quis  crystalla  tenebit  ? 

qua  sapient  melius  mixta  Falerna  manu  ? 
si  tarn  sidereos  manet  exitus  iste  ministros, 

luppiter  utatur  iam  Ganymede  coco. 

LXVII 

PVRRHAE  filia,  Nestoris  noverca, 
quam  vidit  Niobe  puella  canam, 
Laertes  aviam  senex  vocavit, 
nutricem  Priamus,  socrum  Thyestes, 
iam  cornicibus  omnibus  superstes, 
hoc  tandem  sita  prurit  in  sepulchre 
calvo  Plotia  cum  Melanthione. 


LXVIII 

CUM  tibi  non  Ephesos  nee  sit  Rhodos  aut  Mitylene, 
sed  domus  in  vico/  Laelia,  patricio, 

1  "Brother"  and  "sister"  were  often  used  in  a  disreput- 
able sense :  cf.  n.  iv.  3 ;  Tib.  in.  i.  26. 

204 


BOOK   X.  LXV-LXVIII 

stronger  tone :  a  dove  is  not  so  unlike  an  eagle,, 
nor  a  timid  doe  a  savage  lion.  Wherefore  cease  to 
call  me  "  brother "  lest  1  call  you,  Charmenion, 
"  sister"  !  * 

LXVI 

WHO  was  he,  I  ask,  so  harsh,  who  was  he  so 
insolent  that  bade  you,  Theopompus,  become  a 
cook  ?  Is  this  a  face  any  man  endures  to  mar  with 
black  kitchen-soot,  these  the  locks  he  pollutes  with 
greasy  flame  ?  Who  in  your  stead  will  hold  the 
ladles,  or  who  the  crystal  cups  ?  From  whose  hand 
shall  the  blended  Falernian  take  sweeter  savour?  If 
such  an  end  as  that  await  attendants  so  heavenly- 
bright,  let  Jupiter  now  employ  his  Ganymede  as 
cook. 

LXVII 

PYRRHA'S  daughter,  Nestor's  step-mother, one  whom 
Niobe,  when  a  girl,  saw  as  an  old  crone,  old  Laertes 
called  his  grandmother,  Priam  his  nurse,  Thyestes  his 
mother-in-law,  Plotia,  having  now  outlived  all  the 
crows,2  is  laid  in  this  tomb  at  last,  and  by  the  side  of 
bald  Melanthion — itches  with  lust. 


LXVIII 

ALTHOUGH  your  home  is  not  Ephesus,  nor  Rhodes, 
nor  Mitylene,  but  a  house,  Laelia,  in  Patrician  street,8 

2  Crows  were  said  to  outlive  nine  (Hes.  apud  Plut.  De  Def. 
Or.  xi.),  or  at  least  five  (Arist.  Av.  609)  generations  of  men. 

3  Under  the  Esquiline  in  the  middle  of   Rome  :  cf.  vii. 
Ixxiii.  2. 

205 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

deque  coloratis  numquam  lita  mater  Etruscis, 

durus  Aricina  de  regione  pater, 
Kvpte  p-ov,  fjii\i  p.ov,  i/w^i;  p.ov  congeris  usque,  5 

pro  pudor  !  Hersiliae  civis  et  Egeriae. 
lectulus  has  voces,  nee  lectulus  audiat  omnis, 

sed  quern  lascivo  stravit  arnica  viro. 
scire  cupis  quo  casta  modo  matrona  loquaris  ? 

numquid,  cum  crisas,  blandior  esse  potes  ?  10 

tu  licet  ediscas  totam  referasque  Corinthon 

non  tamen  omnino,  Laelia,  Lais  eris. 

LXIX 

CUSTODES  das,  Polla,  viro,  non  accipis  ipsa. 
hoc  est  uxorem  ducere,  Polla,  virum. 

LXX 

QUOD  mihi  vix  unus  toto  liber  exeat  anno 

desidiae  tibi  sum,  docte  Potite,  reus. 
iustius  at  quanto  mirere  quod  exeat  unus, 

labantur  toti  cum  mihi  saepe  dies, 
non  resalutantis  video  nocturnus  amicos,  5 

gratulor  et  multis  ;  nemo,  Potite,  mihi. 
nunc  ad  luciferam  signat  mea  gemma  Dianam, 

nunc  me  prima  sibi,  nunc  sibi  quinta  rapit. 

1  i.e.  Roman,  not  Greek.  H.  was  the  wife  of  Romulus. 
E.  of  Nuina,  kings  of  Rome. 

3  Juvenal  (vi.  192-5)  seems  to  have  copied  the  last  two 
sentences. 

3  A  celebrated  Corinthian  courtesan. 

206 


BOOK    X.  LXVIII-LXX 

and  though  your  mother  was  one  of  the  sunburnt 
Etruscans,  and  never  rouged,  your  sturdy  father  one 
from  the  district  of  Aricia,  you  are  continually  he'ap- 
ing  on  me  in  Greek  "my  lord/'  "my  honey/'  "my 
soul" — shameful!  although  you  are  a  fellow-citizen 
of  Hersilia  and  Egeria.1  Let  a  couch  hear  such 
phrases,  nor  even  every  couch,  but  only  that  which 
his  mistress  has  laid  out  for  an  amorous  paramour.2 
You  want  to  know  how  you  are  to  speak  as  a  chaste 
matron  ?  Can  you  be  more  alluring  when  your  ges- 
tures are  lewd  ?  You  may  learn  by  heart  and  repro- 
duce all  the  ways  of  Corinth,  yet  nohow,  Laelia,  will 
you  be  a  Lais.3 

LXIX 

You  set  watchers  over  your  husband,  Polla,  but  do 
not  receive  them  yourself.  This,  Polla,  is  to  take 
your  husband  to  wife.4 

LXX 

BECAUSE  scarcely  one  book  of  mine  is  published  in 
a  whole  year,  I  am  by  you,  learned  Potitus,  accused 
of  laziness.  But  how  much  mgre  justly  should  you 
wonder  that  one  is  published  at  all,  when  often 
whole  days  of  mine  slip  away.  Before  daybreak  I 
call  on  friends  who  do  not  return  my  call,  and  I 
offer  congratulations  to  many  :  no  one,  Potitus,  offers 
them  to  me.  Now  my  signet-ring  seals  a  document 
at  the  temple  of  Diana  the  Light-bringer ; 5  now  the 
first  hour,  now  the  fifth  hurries  me  off.  Now  consul 

4  Husbands  often  set  watchers  over  their  wives :  cf.  Tac. 
Ann.  xi.  35.     To  return   the   compliment,    says    M.,    is   to 
convert  a  husband  into  a  wife  :  cf.  viu.  xii. 

5  On  the  Aventine  (cf.  vi.  Ixiv.  13),  far  from  M.'s  house 
on  the  Esquiline. 

207 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

mine  consul  praetorve  tenet  reducesque  choi-eae  ; 

auditur  toto  saepe  poeta  die.  10 

sed  nee  causidico  possis  inpune  negare, 

nee  si  te  rhetor  grammaticusve  rogent. 
balnea  post  decumam  lasso  centumque  petuntur 

quadrantes.     net  quando,  Petite,  liber  ? 

LXXI 

QUISQUIS  laeta  tuis  et  sera  parentibus  optas 

fata,  brevem  titulum  marmoris  huius  ama. 
condidit  hac  caras  tellure  Rabirius  umbras  ; 

nulli  sorte  iacent  candidiore  senes  : 
bis  sex  lustra  tori  nox  mitis  et  ultima  clusit,  5 

arserunt  uno  funera  bina  rogo. 
hos  tamen  ut  primis  raptos  sibi  quaerit  in  annis. 

inprobius  nihil  his  fletibus  esse  potest. 

LXXII 

FRUSTRA,  Blariditiae,  venitis  ad  me 

adtritis  miserabiles  labellis : 

dicturus  dominum  deumque  non  sum. 

iam  non  est  locus  hac  in  urbe  vobis ; 

ad  Parthos  procul  ite  pilleatos  5 

et  turpes  humilesque  supplicesque 

pictorum  sola  basiate  regum. 

non  est  hie  dominus  sed  imperator, 

sed  iustissimus  omnium  senator, 

208 


BOOK    X.  LXX-LXXII 

or  praetor  detains  me,  and  his  escorting  band  j1  often 
a  poet  is  listened  to  a  whole  day  long.  Then  also 
you  cannot  with  impunity  refuse  a  pleader,  nor  if  a 
rhetorician  or  grammarian  were  to  ask  you.  After 
the  tenth  hour,  fagged  out,  I  make  for  the  baths  and 
my  hundred  farthings.2  When,  Potitus,  shall  a  book 
be  written  ? 

LXXI 

WHOE'ER  thou  art  who  for  thy  parents  prayest  for 
a  happy  and  a  late  death,  regard  with  love  this 
marble's  brief  inscription.  In  this  earth  Rabirius 
has  hidden  dearly-loved  shades  :  with  fairer  lot  none 
of  the  old  lie  in  death.  Twice  six  lustres  of  wedded 
life  one  night,  kindly  and  their  latest,  closed  ;  on 
one  pyre  two  bodies  burned.  Yet  he  looks  for  them 
as  if  they  had  been  snatched  away  from  him  in 
early  years  :  naught  more  unwarranted  can  be  than 
such  a  lament. 

LXXII 

IN  vain,  O  ye  Flatteries,  ye  come  to  me,  wretched 
creatures  with  your  shameless  lips  ;  I  think  not  to 
address  any  man  as  Master  and  God.3  No  longer  in 
this  city  is  there  place  for  you ;  fly  far  off  to  the 
turbaned  Parthians,  and  kiss — base,  crawling  and 
suppliant  as  ye  are — the  soles  of  bedizened  kings. 
No  master  is  here,  but  a  commander,  aye,  a  senator 
most  just  of  all,4  by  whose  means  rustic  Truth  with 

1  i.e.  escorting  a  magistrate  home  from  some  function  ;  cf. 
II.  Ixxiv.  2  ;  xi.  xxiv.  1. 

2  cf.  in.  vii.  3. 

3  A  title  assumed  by  Domitian,  now  dead.          4  Trajan. 

209 
vol..  n.  P 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

per  quern  de  Stygia  domo  reducta  est  10 

siccis  rustica  Veritas  capillis. 
hoc  sub  principe,  si  sapis,  caveto 
verbis,  Roma,  prioribus  loquaris. 

LXXIII 

LITTERA  facundi  gratum  mihi  pignus  amici 

pertulit,  Ausoniae  dona  f  severaf  l  togae, 
qua  non  Fabricius,  sed  vellet  Apicius  uti, 

vellet  Maecenas  Caesarianus  eques. 
vilior  haec  nobis  alio  mittente  fuisset ;  5 

non  quacumque  manu  victima  caesa  litat : 
a  te  missa  venit :  possem  nisi  munus  araare, 

Marce,  tuum,  poteram  nomen  amare  meum. 
munere  sed  plus  est  et  nomine  gratius  ipso 

officium  docti  iudiciumque  viri.  10 

LXXIV 

IAM  parce  lasso,  Roma,  gratulatori, 

lasso  clienti.     quamdiu  salutator 

anteambulones  et  togatulos  inter 

centum  merebor  plumbeos  die  toto, 

cum  Scorpus  una  quindecim  graves  hora  5 

ferventis  auri  victor  auferat  saccos  ? 

non  ego  meorum  praemium  libellorum 

(quid  enim  merentur  ?)  Apulos  velim  campos  ; 

non  Hybla,  non  me  spicifer  capit  Nilus, 

nee  quae  paludes  delicata  Pomptinas  10 

1  sera  (pro  severa)  y,  superba  Heins. 

1  F.  is  a  type  of  early  simplicity  ;  A.  and  M.  of  modern 
luxury. 

210 


BOOK    X.  LXXII-LXXIV 

her  unperfumed  locks  has  been  brought  home  from 
her  abode  by  Styx.  Under  such  a  prince,  if  thou 
art  wise,  beAvare,  O  Rome,  to  speak  the  words  thou 
didst  before. 

LXXIII 

THE  letter  of  my  eloquent  friend  has  brought  me 
a  welcome  pledge  of  love,  the  staid  gift  of  an  Italian 
toga,  which  not  Fabricius,1  but  Apicius  would  have 
been  glad  to  wear,  glad  too  Maecenas,  Caesar's 
knight.  Less  prized  would  it  have  been  if  another 
sent  it :  'tis  not  the  victim  slain  by  every  hand  that 
wins  favour.  By  you  'tis  sent  and  comes ;  if  I  could 
not  love  your  gift,  Marcus,  I  could  love  at  least  my 
own  name.2  But  more  than  the  gift,  and  more 
welcome  than  the  name  itself,  is  the  attention  and 
judgment  of  a  learned  man. 

LXXIV 

AT  length  spare,  O  Rome,  the  weary  congratu- 
lator,  the  weary  client !  How  long,  at  levees,  among 
the  escort  and  the  full-dressed  throng,  shall  I  earn  a 
hundred  worthless  farthings3  in  a  whole  day,  whereas 
in  a  single  hour,  Scorpus,  a  winner  of  the  race,  bears 
off  fifteen  bags  of  gleaming  gold  ?  I  would  not  as 
reward  for  my  little  books — for  what  do  they  de- 
serve ? — wish  for  Apulian  plains  ;  *  nor  does  Hybla 
or  corn-bearing  Nile  allure  me,  nor  the  dainty  Setine 

2  M.'s  name  was  perhaps  embroidered  on  the  toga.     Or 
M.  may  mean,   "I  value  the  gift  as  coming  from  another 
Marcus." 

3  The  usual  client's  dole. 

4  Celebrated  for  wool  :  cf.  n.  xlvi.  6  ;  vni.  xxviii.  3. 

2  1 1 
p  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

ex  arce  clivi  spectat  uva  Setini. 

quid  concupiscam  quaeris  ergo  ?     dormire. 


LXXV 

MILIA  viginti  quondam  me  Galla  poposcit 

et,  fateor,  magno  non  erat  ilia  nimis. 
annus  abit :  "Bis  quina  dabis  sestertia/'  dixit. 

poscere  plus  visa  est.quam  prius  ilia  mihi. 
iam  duo  poscenti  post  sextum  milia  mensem  5 

mille  dabam  nummos.     noluit  accipere. 
transierant  binae  forsan  trinaeve  Kalendae, 

aureolos  ultro  quattuor  ipsa  petit, 
non  dedimus.     centum  iussit  me  mittere  nummos  ; 

sed  visa  est  nobis  haec  quoque  summa  gravis.      10 
sportula  nos  iunxit  quadrantibus  arida  centum  ; 

hanc  voluit :  puero  diximus  esse  datam. 
inferius  numquid  potuit  descendere  ?     fecit. 

dat  gratis,  ultro  dat  mihi  Galla :  nego. 


LXXVI 

Hoc,  Fortuna,  tibi  videtur  aequum  ? 
civis  non  Syriaeve  Parthiaeve, 
nee  de  Cappadocis  eques  catastis, 
sed  de  plebe  Remi  Numaeque  verna, 
iucundus  probus  innocens  amicus, 
lingua  doctus  utraque,  cuius  unum  est 
sed  magnum  vitium  quod  est  poeta, 
pullo  Maevius  alget  in  cucullo  : 
cocco  mulio  fulget  Incitatus. 


1  The  noises  of  Rome  are  described  in  xn.  Ivii. 
2t2 


BOOK   X.  LXXIV-LXXVI 

grape  which  from  the  hill's  crest  looks  on  the  Pomp- 
tine  marshes.  Do  you  ask,  then,  what  I  long  for  ? 
To  sleep.1 

LXXV 

GALLA  formerly  demanded  of  me  twenty  thousand 
sesterces,  and  I  allow  she  was  not  too  dear.  A  year 
goes  by  :  "  You  will  give  ten  thousand  ?  "  she  said  ; 
she  appeared  to  me  to  be  demanding  more  than 
before.  Then  after  six  months,  when  she  demanded 
two  thousand,  I  offered  a  thousand :  she  would  not 
accept  them.  Two,  or  perhaps  three  kalends  had 
passed,  and  voluntarily  she  herself  asked  for  four 
gold  pieces : 2  I  did  not  give  them.  She  bade  me 
send  her  a  hundred  sesterces,  but  this  sum,  too, 
seemed  to  me  stiff.  A  starveling  allowance  of  a 
hundred  farthings  allied  me  with  a  patron :  this  she 
wanted;  I  said  I  had  given  them  to  my  slave.  Could 
she  come  down  to  lower  depths  ?  She  achieved  this. 
Galla  offers  me  her  favours  for  nothing,  offers  of  her 
own  accord  :  I  decline. 

LXXVI 

DOES  this,  Fortune,  seem  to  you  to  be  fair  ?  Here 
is  a  citizen,  not  of  Syria  or  Parthia,  no  knight  from 
Cappadocian  slave-stands,  but  home-born,  one  of  the 
crowd  of  Remus  and  of  Numa,  a  friend  pleasant, 
honest,  blameless,  learned  in  either  tongue,  whose 
one  fault — and  that  a  great  one — is  that  he  is  a 
poet :  'tis  Maevius,3  who  shivers  in  a  black  cowl. 
Incitatus,  the  mule-driver,  shines  in  scarlet. 

2  The  aureolus  was  a  gold  coin  worth  25  denarii,  intrin- 
sically about  a  pound  of  British  money.     Four,  in  terms  of 
sesterces,  would  be  400. 

3  Perhaps  Martial  means  himself. 

213 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXVII 

NEQUIUS  a  Caro  nihil  umquam,  Maxime,  factum  est 
quam  quod  febre  perit :  fecit  et  ilia  nefas. 

saeva  nocens  febris  saltern  quartana  fuisset : * 
servari  medico  debuit  ilia  2  suo. 


LXXVIII 

IBIS  litoreas,  Macer,-  Salonas  ; 

ibit  rara  fides  amorque  recti 

et  quae,  cum  comitem  trahit  pudorem, 

semper  pauperior  redit  potestas. 

felix  auri  ferae  colone  terrae,  5 

rectorem  vacuo  sinu  remittes 

optabisque  moras,  et  exeuntem 

udo,  Dalmata,  gaudio  sequeris. 

nos  Celtas,  Macer,  et  truces  Hiberos 

cum  desiderio  tui  petemus.  10 

sed  quaecumque  tamen  feretur  illinc 

piscosi  calamo  Tagi  notata, 

Macrum  pagina  nostra  nominabit : 

sic  inter  veteres  legar  poetas, 

nee  multos  mihi  praeferas  priores,  15 

uno  sed  tibi  sim  minor  Catullo. 

LXXIX 

AD  lapidem  Torquatus  habet  praetoria  quartum  ; 
ad  quartum  breve  rus  emit  Otacilius. 

1  fuiases  /3.  2  ilia  5-,  ille  codd. 

1  C.  was  a  specialist  in  quartan  fever,  and  should  have 
been  allowed  to  die  by  his  own  particular  disease.     With  the 


BOOK    X.  LXXVII— LXXIX 

LXXVII 

NOTHING  more  scandalous,  Maximus,  was  ever  done 
by  Carus  than  his  dying  of  fever,  and  it  too  com- 
mitted an  outrage.  The  cruel,  fatal  fever  should 
have  been  at  least  a  quartan  !  That  malady  should 
have  been  reserved  for  its  own  doctor.1 


LXXVIII 

You  will  go,  Macer,  to  Salonae  2  by  the  sea  ;  with 
you  will  go  rare  loyalty  and  love  of  right,  and 
power,  which,  with  moderation  in  its  train,  ever 
returns  the  poorer.  Happy  dweller  in  that  gold- 
bearing  land,  you  will  send  home  your  Governor 
with  empty  pouch,  and  will  beg  him  to  linger,  and 
as  he  goes  you,  Dalmatian,  will  speed  him  with  a 
tearful  joy.  I,  Macer,  will  seek  the  Celts  and  fierce 
Hiberians,  longing  the  while  for  you.  Yet,  whatever 
page  of  mine  shall  be  wafted  from  thence,  scored 
with  a  reed-pen  from  fish-teeming  Tagus,  it  shall 
speak  of  Macer's  name.  So  may  I  be  read  among 
the  old  poets,  and  you  prefer  not  many  to  me,  but 
may  I  be  to  you  less  than  Catullus  alone  ! 


LXXIX 

AT   the  fourth  milestone   Torquatus   possesses  a 
palace :    at   the   fourth  Otacilius    bought   a   narrow 

reading  ille  in  1.  4  the  meaning  is  that  the  disease  should 
have  taken  the  mild  form  of  a  quartan  (cf.  Juv.  iv.  57),  and 
the  patient  been  left  for  his  own  doctor  to  kill. 

2  The  capital  of  Dalmatia,  where  M.  was  going  as  governor. 
He  had  been  (cf,  x.  xvii.)  curator  of  the  Appian  Way. 

215 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

Torquatus  nitidas  vario  de  marmore  thermas 

extruxit ;  cucumam  feeit  Otacilius. 
disposuit  daphnona  suo  Torquatus  in  agro ;  5 

castaneas  centum  sevit  Otacilius. 
consule  Torquato  viei  fuit  ille  magister, 

non  minor  in  tanto  visus  honore  sibi. 
grandis  ut  exiguam  bos  ranam  ruperat  olim, 

sic,  puto,  Torquatus  rumpet  Otacilium.  10 

LXXX 

PLORAT  Eros,  quotiens  maculosae  pocula  mtirrae 

inspicit  aut  pueros  nobiliusve  citrum, 
et  gemitus  imo  ducit  de  pectore  quod  non 

tota  miser  coemat  Saepta  feratque  domum. 
quam  multi  faciunt  quod  Eros  !  sed  lumine  sicco       5 

pars  maior  lacrimas  ridet  et  intus  habet. 

LXXXI 

CUM  duo  venissent  ad  Phyllida  mane  fututum 
et  nudam  cuperet  sumere  uterque  prior, 

promisit  pariter  se  Phyllis  utrique  daturam, 
et  dedit :  ille  pedem  sustulit,  hie  tunicam. 

LXXXII 

*    .-  .    ....-„;...,,    ..:.„ *.., -.»•».,  ,  # ^ 

Si  quid  nostra  tuis  adicit  vexatio  rebus, 
mane  vel  a  media  nocte  togatus  ero 

1  Cucuma,  literally,  is  a  large  seething  pot. 

2  Augustus  divided  Rome  into  regions  and  districts  (Suet. 

216 


BOOK   X.  LXXIX--LXXXII 

field.  Torquatus  built  warm  baths  bright  with 
variegated  marble  :  Otacilius  set  up  a  geyser.1  On 
his  land  Torquatus  laid  out  a  laurel-grove  :  Otacilius 
planted  a  hundred  chestnuts.  When  Torquatus  was 
consul  the  other  was  a  vestryman,2  in  such  a  dignity 
deeming  himself  no  lesser  man.  Just  as  the  huge  ox 
in  the  fable  caused  the  frog  to  burst  himself,  so,  I 
think,  Torquatus  will  burst  Otacilius. 


LXXX 

EROS  weeps  whenever  he  inspects  cups  of  spotted3 
murrine,  or  slaves,  or  a  citrus-wood  table  finer  than 
usual,  and  heaves  groans  from  the  bottom  of  his 
chest  because  he — wretched  man — cannot  buy  up 
the  whole  Saepta4  and  carry  it  home.  How  many 
act  like  Eros !  But  with  dry  eyes  the  greater  part 
laugh  at  his  tears — and  have»them  in  their  hearts. 

LXXXI 

Dui  essendo  venuti  da  Fillide  di  mattina  per 
immembrarla,  e  1'uno  e  1'altro  desiderando  goderla 
nuda  il  primo,  Fillide  promise  darsi  in  una  volta  a 
tutti  e  due,  e  si  diede.  Quello  sollevo  il  piede, 
questo  la  tunica. 

LXXXII 

IF  my  discomfort  bring  any  advantage  to  your 
affairs,  at  daybreak,  or  after  midnight  1  will  don  my 

Aug.  30),  each  of  the  latter  being  put  under  four  vici  magistri 
chosen  from  the  vicinity. 

3  Transparency  or  paleness  was  a  defect :  cf.  iv.  Ixxxv.  2. 

*  cf.  n.  xiv.  5. 

217 


THE   EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

stridentesque  feram  flatus  Aquilonis  iniqui 
et  patiar  nimbos  excipiamque  nives. 

sed  si  non  fias  quadrante  beatior  uno 
per  gemitus  nostros  ingenuasque  cruces, 

parce,  precor,  fesso  vanosque  remitte  labores 
qui  tibi  non  prosunt  et  mini,  Galle,  nocent. 


LXXXIII 

RAROS  colligis  hinc  et  hinc  capillos 

et  latum  nitidae,  Marine,  calvae 

campum  temporibus  tegis  comatis ; 

sed  moti  redeunt  iubente  vento 

reddunturque  sibi  caputque  nudum  5 

cirris  grandibus  hinc  et  inde  cingunt. 

inter  Spendophorum  Telesphorumque 

Cydae  stare  putabis  Hermerotem. 

vis  tu  simplicius  senem  fateri, 

ut  tandem  videaris  unus  esse  ?  10 

calvo  turpius  est  nilril  comato. 


LXXXIV 

M i H A Hi>.  quare  dormitum  non  eat  Afer  ? 
accumbat  cum  qua,  Caediciane,  vides. 


LXXXV 

I  AM  senior  Ladon  Tiberinae  nauta  carinae 
proxima  dilectis  rura  paravit  aquis. 

1  S.  and  T.  are  beautiful  boys  referred  to  in  ix.  Ivi.;  xi. 
218 


BOOK   X.  LXXXII-LXXXV 

toga,  and  bear  the  whistling  blasts  of  the  harsh 
North  wind,  and  endure  the  storm-clouds  and  wel- 
come the  snow.  But  if  you  don't  become  richer  by 
a  single  farthing  through  my  groans  and  the  servile 
tortures  of  a  free  man,  be  merciful,  I  pray,  to  my 
weariness,  and  remit  these  useless  labours  that  don't 
help  you,  Gallus,  and  hurt  me. 

LXXXIII 

FROM  the  one  side  and  the  other  you  gather  up 
your  scanty  locks  and  you  cover,  Marinus,  the  wide 
expanse  of  your  shining  bald  scalp  with  the  hair  from 
both  sides  of  your  head.  But  blown  about,  they 
come  back  at  the  bidding  of  the  wind,  and  return 
to  themselves,  and  gird  your  bare  poll  with  big 
curls  on  this .  side  and  on  that.  You  would  think 
the  Hermeros  of  Cydas  is  standing  between  Spendo- 
phorus  and  Telesphorus.1  Will  you,  please,  in  simpler 
fashion  confess  yourself  old,  so  as  after  all  to  appear 
a  single  person  ?  Nothing  is  more  unsightly  than 
a  bald  man  covered  with  hair.2 

LXXXIV 

Do  you  wonder  why  Afer  does  not  go  to  bed  ? 
You  see,  Caedicianus,  the  lady  with  whom  he  reclines 
at  table. 

LXXXV 

Now  grown  old,  Ladon,  the  master  of  a  boat  on 
Tiber,  bought  some  land  near  his  beloved  stream. 

xxvi.     Hermeros  is  unknown,  and  may  he  someone  so  called 
on  account  of  his  ugliness  and  baldness. 
2  cf.  v.  xlix.  on  a  similar  subject. 

219 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF   MARTIAL 

quae  cum  saepe  vagus  premeret  torrentibus  undis 
Thybris  et  hiberno  rumperet  arva  lacu, 

emeritam  puppim,  ripa  quae  stabat  in  alta, 
inplevit  saxis  opposuitque  vadis. 

sic  nimias  avevtit  aquas,     quis  credere  posset  ? 
auxilium  domino  mersa  carina  tulit. 


NEMO  nova  caluit  sic  inflammatus  arnica, 

flagravit  quanto  Laurus  amore  pilae. 
sed  qui  primus  erat  lusor  dum  floruit  aetas, 

nunc  postquam  desit  ludere,  prima  pila  est. 

LXXXVII 

OCTOBRES  age  sentiat  Kalendas 

facundi  pia  Roma  Restituti : 

linguis  omnibus  et  favete  votis  ; 

natalem  colimus,  tacete  lites. 

absit  cereus  aridi  clientis,  5 

et  vani  triplices  brevesque  mappae 

expectent  gelidi  iocos  Decembris. 

certent  muneribus  beatiores  : 

Agrippae  tumidus  negotiator 

Cadmi  municipes  ferat  lacernas  ;  "  10 

pugnorum  reus  ebriaeque  noctis 

cenatoria  mittat  advocato ; 

1  cf.  II.  xliii.  6.  L.  is  now  good  for  nothing.  Or  perhaps 
the  allusion  may  be  to  his  dilapidated  appearance  through 
poverty. 

220 


BOOK    X.  I.XXXV-LXXXVII 

As  Tiber  often  o'erflowing  was  drowning  it  with 
rushing  waters,  and  with  a  winter  flood  usurping  the 
tilled  fields,  he  filled  with  stones  his  boat,  now  past 
service,  that  stood  on  the  high  bank,  and  opposed  it 
as  a  barrier  to  the  waters.  So  he  averted  the  deluge. 
Who  could  believe  it  ?  The  sinking  of  his  ship 
brought  succour  to  its  owner  ! 

LXXXVI 

• 

No  man  has  been  so  inflamed  with  ardour  for 
a  new  mistress  as  Laurus  has  been  fired  with  the 
delight  of  playing  at  ball.  But  he,  who  was  a  prime 
player  while  life  was  in  its  bloom,  now  he  has  ceased 
to  play  is  a  prime  dummy.1 

LXXXVII 

COME,  let  duteous  Rome  recognise  October's 
kalends,  the  birthday  of  eloquent  Restitutus2r  with 
all  your  tongues,  and  in  all  your  prayers,  utter  well- 
omened  words ;  we  keep  a  birthday,  be  still,  ye  law- 
suits !  Away  with  the  needy  client's  wax  taper !  and 
let  useless  three-leaved  tablets  and  curt  napkins  wait 
for  the  jollity  of  cold  December.3  Let  richer  men  vie 
in  gifts :  let  Agrippa's 4  pompous  tradesman  bring 
mantles,  the  fellow-citizens  of  Cadmus  5  ;  let  the  de- 
fendant in  a  charge  of  assault  and  drunkenness  at 
night  send  his  counsel  dinner-suits.  Has  a  slandered 

2  An  advocate,  perhaps  the  Claudius  R.  spoken  of  by  Pliny 
(Ep.  m.  ix.  16)  as  "  vir  exercitatus  et  vigilans,  et  quamlibet 
subitis  paratus." 

3  "  Away   with  rubbishy  gifts :   let  every  one  send   his 
best ! " 

4  In  the  Saepta  where  were  fashionable  shops  :  cf.  n.  xiv. 
5;  ix.  lix.  1.  B  i.e.  Tyrian. 

221 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

infamata  virum  puella  vicit  ? 

veros  sardonychas,  sed  ipsa  tradat ; 

mirator  veterum  senex  avorura  15 

donet  Phidiaci  toreuma  caeli ; 

venator  leporem,  colonus  haedum, 

piscator  ferat  aequorum  rapinas. 

si  mittit  sua  quisque,  quid  poetam 

missurum  tibi,  Restitute,  credis  ?  20 

LXXXVIII 

OMNES  persequeris  praetorum,  Cotta,  libellos  ; 
accipis  et  ceras.     officiosus  homo  es. 

LXXXIX 

I  UNO  labor,  Poly  elite,  tuus  et  gloria  felix, 
Phidiacae  cuperent  quam  meruisse  manus, 

ore  nitet  tanto  quanto  superasset  in  Ide 
iudice  convictas  non  dubitante  deas. 

lunonem,  Polyclite,  suam  nisi  frater  amaret,  •   5 

lunonem  poterat  frater  amare  tuam. 

XC 

QUID  vellis  vetulum,  Ligeia,  cunnum  ? 

quid  busti  ciueres  tui  lacessis  ? 

tales  munditiae  decent  puellas 

(nam  tu  iam  nee  anus  potes  videri) ; 

istud,  crede  mihi,  Ligeia,  belle  5 

non  mater  facit  Hectoris,  sed  uxor. 

1  cf.  iv.  xxxix.  4. 

2  This  ep.  is  unintelligible  (Friedlander).     It  depends  on 
the  meaning  of  libellos. 

222 


BOOK   X.  LXXXVII-XC 

young  wife  defeated  her  husband  ?  Let  her  bestow, 
and  with  her  own  hands,  genuine  sardonyxes.  Let 
the  old  admirer  of  ancient  days  give  chased  plate  of 
Phidias'  chisel,1  the  hunter  a  hare,  the  farmer  a  kid, 
the  fisher  bring  the  spoil  of  the  sea.  If  every  man 
send  his  own  peculiar  gift,  what  do  you  think,  Re- 
stitutus,  a  poet  will  send  you  ? 


LXXXVIII 

You  run  after  all  the  announcements  of  trials  be- 
fore the  Praetor,  Cotta,  and  you  accept  note  books. 
You  are  an  attentive  person  ! 2 

LXXXIX 

JUNO,  thy  work,  Polyclitus,  bringing  thee  proud 
glory,  such  as  the  hands  of  Phidias  might  be  eager 
to  have  won,  shines  in  beauty  such  as  on  Ida  would 
have  o'ercome  the  goddesses  condemned  by  no  hesi- 
tating judge.3  Did  not  her  brother  4  love  his  own 
Juno,  Polyclitus,  that  brother  might  well  have  loved 
this  Juno  of  thine  ! 

XC 

WHY,  Ligeia,  do  you  depilate  your  aged  charms  ? 
Why  do  you  stir  the  ashes  of  your  dead  self?  Such 
trickings  befit  young  girls  (for  you  cannot  now  seem 
to  be  even  an  old  crone)  ;  that  which  you  do,  Ligeia, 
believe  me,  is  not  pretty  in  Hector's  mother,  only 

3  Paris,  who  adjudged  Venus  to  be  more  beautiful  than 
Juno  or  Minerva. 

4  Jupiter. 

223 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

erras  si  tibi  cunnus  hie  videtur, 

ad  quern  mentula  pertinere  desit. 

quare  si  pudor  est,  Ligeia,  noli 

barbam  vellere  mortuo  leoni.  10 


XCI 

OMNES  eunuchos  habet  Almo  nee  arrigit  ipse  : 
et  queritur  pariat  quod  sua  Polla  nihil. 


XCII 

MARI,  quietae  cultor  et  comes  vitae, 

quo  cive  prisca  gloriatur  Atina, 

has  tibi  gemellas  barbari  decus  luci 

conmendo  pinus  ilicesque  Faunorum 

et  semidocta  vilici  manu  structas  5 

Tonantis  aras  horridique  Silvani, 

quas  pinxit  agni  saepe  sanguis  aut  haedi, 

dominamque  sancti  virginem  deam  templi, 

et  quern  sororis  hospitem  vides  castae 

Martem  meavum  principem  Kalendarum,          10 

et  delicatae  laureum  nemus  Florae, 

in  quod  Priapo  persequente  confugit. 

hoc  omne  agelli  mite  parvuli  numen 

seu  tu  cruore  sive  ture  placabis, 

"  Ubicumque  vester  Martialis  est/'  dices  15 

"  hac  ecce  mecum  dextei'a  litat  vobis 

absers  sacerdos  ;  vos  putate  praesentem 

et  date  duobus  quidquid  alter  optabit." 


1  i.e.  do  not  seek  to  stir  passion  now  dead. 
224 


BOOK    X.  xc-xcii 

in  his  wife.  You  are  mistaken  if  you  think  those 
are  charms,  when  gallantry  has  ceased  to  concern 
itself  with  them.  So,  if  you  have  any  shame,  Ligeia, 
forbear  to  pluck  the  beard  of  a  dead  lion.1 

XCI 

ALMO  has  eunuchs  all  about  him,  and  he  himself 
is  inefficient,  and  yet  he  complains  that  his  Pol  la 
produces  nothing. 


MAHIUS,  votary  of  that  quiet  life  you  shared  with 
me,  citizen  in  whom  ancient  Atina  makes  her  boast, 
these  twin  pines,  the  ornament  of  an  untrimmed 
wood,  I  commend  to  you,2  and  the  holm-oaks  of  the 
Fawns,  and  the  altars,  built  by  my  bailiff's  unprac- 
tised hand,  of  the  Thunderer  and  of  shaggy  Sil- 
vanus,  that  oft  the  blood  of  lamb  or  goat  has 
stained ;  and  the  virgin  goddess,3  queen  of  her 
hallowed  shrine,  and  him  whom  you  see,  his  pure 
sister's  guest,  Mars,  who  rules  my  birthday  kalends ; 
and  the  laurel  grove  of  dainty  Flora,  whereinto  she 
fled  when  Priapus  pursued.  To  all  these  gentle 
deities  of  my  small  field,  whoe'er  they  be,  whom  you 
propitiate,  whether  with  blood  or  incense,  you  shall 
say :  "  Wherever  your  Martial  is,  behold,  by  this 
right  hand  with  me  he  sacrifices  to  you,  an  absent 
priest.  Deem  ye  that  he  is  here,  and  grant  to  both 
whatever  either  shall  pray  for  !  " 

2  Martial,  being  about  to  return  to  Spain,  commends  to 
M.  the  Nomentan  farm,  and  the  duty  of  keeping  up  its 
sacred  rites.  3  Diana. 

225 

VOL.   II.  O 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XCIII 

Si  prior  Euganeas,  Clemens,  Helicaonis  oras 
pictaque  pampineis  videris  arva  iugis, 

perfer  Atestinae  nondum  vulgata  Sabinae 
carmina,  purpurea  sed  modo  culta  toga. 

ut  rosa  delectat  metitur  quae  pollice  primo, 
sic  nova  nee  mento  sordida  charta  iuvat. 

XCIV 

NON  mea  Massy] us  servat  pomaria  serpens, 
regius  Alcinoi  nee  mihi  servit  ager, 

sed  Nomentana  securus  germinal  hortus 
arbore,  nee  furem  plumbea  mala  timent. 

haec  igitur  media  quae  sunt  modo  nata  Subura 
mittimus  autumni  cerea  poma  mei. 

xcv 

INKANTEM  tibi  vir,  tibi,  Galla,  remisit  adulter. 
hi,  puto,  non  dubie  se  futuisse  negant. 

XCVI 

SAEPE  loquar  minium  gentes  quod,  Avite,  remotas 

miraris,  Latia  factus  in  urbe  senex, 
auriferumque  Tagum  sitiam  patriumque  Salonem 

et  repetam  saturae  sordida  rura  casae. 


1  Euganei  was  the  old  name  of  the  inhabitants  of  Venetia. 
Helicaon  was  the  son  of  Antenor  who  founded  Patavium 
(Padua). 

a  iugum  is  regularly  used  by  Coluniella  of  the  trellis  to 
which  the  vine  shoots  were  fastened.  3  cf.  I.  Ixvi.  8. 

226 


•     -  BOOK   X.  xciu-xcvi 

XCIII 

IF  before  me,  Clemens,  you  shall  behold  Helicaon's 
Euganean  shores,1  and  the  fields  decked  with  vine- 
clad  trellises,2  carry  to  Sabina  of  Atesta  poems,  un- 
published as  yet,  and  that  too  newly  arrayed  in 
purple  wrapper.  As  the  rose  delights  us  that  is  first 
plucked  by  the  finger,  so  a  sheet  pleases  when  'tis 
new  and  unsoiled  by  the  chin.3 

XCIV 

No  Massylian  serpent4  guards  my  orchard,  nor  does 
the  royal  plantation  of  Alcinous  5  serve  my  wants,  but 
my  garden  burgeons  in  security  with  its  Nomentan 
fruit-trees,  and  my  poor  fruits  dread  no  thief.  So 
I  send  you  these  yellow  apples  of  my  autumn  crop, 
freshly  grown — in  the  midst  of  the  Subura/' 

XCV 

YOUR  husband,  Galla,  has  sent  you  back  the  babe, 
your  lover  has  sent  it  back.  They,  1  think,  in  no 
doubtful  fashion  deny  connection. 

XCVI 

You  often  wonder,  Avitus,7  why  I  speak  overmuch 
of  nations  very  far  off,  though  I  have  grown  old  in 
Latium's  city,  and  long  for  gold-bearing  Tagus  and 
my  native  Salo,  and  look  back  to  the  rough  fields  of 

4  That  guarded  the  golden  apples  of  the  Hesperides :  cf. 
xni.  xxxvii.  6  cf.  vn.  xlii.  6. 

8  i.e.  bought  thereby  M.,  as  his  own  farm  at  Nomentum 
produced  nothing  worth  sending  :  cf.  vn.  xxxi.  12. 

7  cf.  ix.  i.  Ep. 

227 
«  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

ilia  placet  tellus  in  qua  res  parva  beatum  5 

me  facif  et  tenues  luxuriantur  opes  : 
pascitur  hie,  ibi  pascit  ager ;  tepet  igne  maligno 

hie  focus,  ingenti  lumine  lucet  ibi ; 
hie  pretiosa  fames  conturbatorque  macellus, 

mensa  ibi  divitiis  ruris  operta  sui ;  10 

quattuor  hie  aestate  togae  pluresve  teruntur, 

autumnis  ibi  me  quattuor  una  tegit. 
i,  cole  nunc  reges,  quidquid  non  praestat  amicus 

cum  praestare  tibi  possit,  Avite,  locus. 


XCVII 

DUM  levis  arsura  struitur  Libitina  papyro, 
dum  murram  et  casias  flebilis  uxor  emit, 

Jam  scrobe,  iam  lecto,  iam  pollinctore  parato, 
heredem  scripsit  me  Numa  :  convaluit. 


XCVIII 

ADDAT  cum  mihi  Caecubum  minister 

Idaeo  resolutior  cinaedo, 

quo  nee  filia  cultior  nee  uxor 

nee  mater  tua  nee  soror  recumbit, 

vis  spectem  potius  tuas  lucernas  5 

aut  citrum  vetus  Indieosque  denies  ? 

suspectus  tibi  ne  tamen  recumbam, 

praesta  de  grege  sordidaque  villa 

tonsos  horridulos  mdes  pusillos 

hircosi  mihi  filios  subulci.  10 

perdet  te  dolor  hie  :  habere,  Publi, 

mores  non  potes  hos  et  hos  ministros. 

228 


BOOK    X.  xcvi-xcvm 

a  fruitful  country-house.  That  land  is  dear  to  me 
wherein  small  means  make  me  rich,  and  a  slender 
store  is  luxury.  The  soil  is  maintained  l  here,  there 
it  maintains  you  ;  here  your  hearth  is  scarcely  warm 
with  its  grudging  fire,  with  a  mighty  blaze  it  shines 
there.  Here  hunger  is  dear  and  the  market  makes 
you  bankrupt,  there  stands  a  table  covered  with  its 
own  country's  wealth.  Here  four  togas  or  more 
grow  threadbare  in  a  summer,  there  during  four 
autumns  one  covers  me.  Go  to,  now !  and  pay 
court  to  great  men,  when  a  place  can  afford  you, 
Avitus,  whatever  a  friend  does  not  afford  ! 

XCVII 

WHILE  the  lightly-heaped  pyre  was  being  laid  with 
papyrus  for  the  flame,2  while  his  weeping  wife  was 
buying  myrrh  and  casia,  when  now  the  grave,  when 
now  the  bier,  when  now  the  anointer  was  ready, 
Numa  wrote  me  down  his  heir,  and — got  well ! 

XCVIII 

WHEN  an  attendant  more  voluptuous  than  the 
cupbearer  of  Ida  3  pours  out  my  Caecuban,  one  than 
whom  your  daughter  or  wife,  or  mother  or  sister,  is 
no  smarter  as  she  reclines  at  table,  do  you  wish  me 
instead  to  look  at  your  lamps,  or  at  your  antique 
table  of  citrus- wood  and  its  ivory  legs  ?  Neverthe- 
less, that  I  may  not  be  suspected  by  you  at  your  table, 
produce  for  me  from  the  throng  in  your  rough  farm- 
stead some  short-haired,  unkempt,  clownish,  puny  fel- 
lows, sons  of  a  malodorous  swineherd.  This  jealousy 
of  yours  will  betray  you  !  You  cannot,  Publius, 
possess  such  morals  and  such  servants  at  once. 

1  cf.  x.  Iviii.  9.         2  cf.  vin.  xliv.  14.         3  Ganymede. 

229 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XCIX 

Si  Romana  forent  haec  Socratis  ora,  fuissent 
lulius  in  Saturis  qualia  Rufus  habet. 

C 

QUID,  stulte,  nostris  versibus  tuos  misces  ? 
cum  litigante  quid  tibi,  miser,  libro  ? 
quid  congregare  cum  leonibus  volpes 
aquilisque  similes  facere  noctuas  quaeris  ? 
habeas  licebit  alterum  pedem  Ladae,  5 

inepte,  frustra  crure  ligneo  curris. 

CI 

ELYSIO  redeat  si  forte  remissus  ab  agro 

ille  suo  felix  Caesare  Gabba  vetus, 
qui  Capitolinum  pariter  Gabbamque  iocantes 

audierit,  dicet  "  Rustice  Gabba,  tace." 

CII 

QUA  factus  ratione  sit  requiris, 

qui  numquam  futuit,  pater  Philinus  ? 

Gaditanus,  Avite,  dicat  istud, 

qui  scribit  nihil  et  tamen  poeta  est. 

GUI 

MUNICIPES,  Augusta  mihi  quos  Bilbilis  acri 
monte  creat,  rapidis  quern  Salo  cingit  aquis, 

1  Possibly  on  a  portrait  of  R.  as  a  frontispiece  to  his 
Satires.  The  portrait  is  as  ugly  as  Socrates.  Others, 
however,  suggest  t'n  Satyris  "amid  a  group  of  satyrs." 

230 


BOOK    X.  xrix-cin 

• 

XCIX 

IF  this  face  of  Socrates  had  been  a  Roman's,  it 
would  have  been  just  what  Julius  Rufus  presents  in 
his  Satires.1 

C 

WHY,  you  fool,  do  you  mix  your  verses  with  mine  ? 
What  have  you,  wretched  fellow,  to  do  with  a  book 
that  is  at  odds  with  you  ?  2  Why  do  you  try  to  herd 
foxes  with  lions,  and  to  make  owls  like  eagles  ?  You 
may  possess  one  foot  as  swift  as  Ladas,3  yet,  you 
stupid,  you  run  in  vain  with  a  leg  of  wood. 

CI 

IF,  by  chance  sent  back  from  the  Elysian  fields, 
the  old  Gabba,4  fortunate  in  his  master,  Caesar,  were 
to  return,  he  who  hears  Capitolinus  6  and  Gabba  in 
a  jesting  match  will  say  :  "Boorish  Gabba,  hold  your 
tongue ! " 

CII 

Do  you  ask  how  it  comes  that  Philinus,  who  never 
sleeps  with  his  wife,  is  yet  a  father?  Gaditanus 
must  answer  that,  Avitus :  he  writes  nothing,  and 
yet  he  is  "a  poet." 

cm 

FELLOW-TOWNSMEN,  the  children  of  Augustan  Bil- 
bilis  on  its  keen  hillside,  which  Salo  girds  with 

2  cf.  i.  liii.  3. 

8  A  celebrated  Spartan  i-unner,  and  winner  at  Olympia  : 
cf.  ii.  Ixxxvi.  8. 

4  The  jester  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  :  cf.  i.  xli.  16. 

5  Trajan's  jester. 

231 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

. 
ecquid  laeta  iuvat  vestri  vos  gloria  vatis  ? 

nam  decus  et  nomen  famaque  vestra  sunius, 
nee  sua  plus  debet  tenui  Verona  Catullo  5 

meque  velit  dici  non  minus  ilia  suum. 
quattuor  accessit  tricesima  messibus  aestas, 

ut  sine  me  Cereri  rustica  liba  datis, 
moenia  dum  colimus  dominae  pulcherrima  Roinae  : 

mutavere  meas  Itala  regna  comas.  10 

excipitis  placida  reducem  si  mente,  venimus ; 

aspera  si  geritis  corda,  redire  licet. 


CIV 

I  NOSTRO  comes,  i,  libelle,  Flavo 

longum  per  mare,  sed  faventis  undae, 

et  cursu  facili  tuisque  ventis 

Hispanae  pete  Tarraconis  arces  : 

illinc  te  rota  toilet  et  citatus  5 

altam  Bilbilin  et  tuum  Salonem 

quinto  forsitan  essedo  videbis. 

quid  mandem  tibi  quaeris  ?  ut  sodales 

paucos,  sed  veteres  et  ante  brumas 

triginta  mihi  quattuorque  visos  10 

ipsa  protinus  a  via  salutes 

et  nostrum  admoneas  subinde  Flavum 

iucundos  mihi  nee  laboriosos 

secessus  pretio  paret  salubri, 

qui  pigrum  faciant  tuum  parentem.  15 

haec  sunt.    iam  tumidus  vocat  magister 

castigatque  moras,  et  aura  portum 

laxavit  melior  :  vale,  libelle  : 

navem,  scis,  puto,  non  moratur  unus. 


232 


BOOK    X.  CIH-CIV 

hurrying  waters,  does  the  glad  renown  of  your  bard 
delight  you  ?  For  I  am  your  glory  and  repute,  and 
your  fame,  and  his  own  Verona  owes  no  more 
to  elegant  Catullus,  and  would  wish  me  to  be 
called  no  less  her  own  son.  A  thirtieth  summer 
has  been  added  to  four  harvests  since  without  me 
you  offered  to  Ceres  rustic  cakes,  while  I  have  so- 
journed within  the  fair  walls  of  mistress  Rome ;  the 
realm  of  Italy  has  grizzled  my  locks.  If  you  greet 
me  with  gentle  will  on  my  return,  I  come  to  you ; 
if  you  carry  churlish  hearts,  I  can  go  back.1 

CIV 

Go,  fellow  wayfarer  of  my  Flavus ;  go,  little  book, 
over  the  wide  sea — but  when  the  wave  befriends 
you — and,  on  easy  course  and  with  breezes  all  your 
own,  seek  the  heights  of  Spanish  Tarraco.  From 
there  the  wheel  will  carry  you,  and,  rapidly  borne, 
you  will  perchance  at  the  fifth  stage  see  high-set 
Bilbilis  and  your  Salo.  Ask  you  what  is  my  charge 
to  you  ?  That  you  greet,  even  as  you  are  on  the 
way,  my  comrades — few  are  they,  but  old  ones,  and 
last  seen  by  me  now  thirty  and  four  winters  back — 
and  now  and  then  remind  my  Flavus  that  he  procure 
for  me  at  a  wholesome  price  some  retreat,  pleasant 
and  not  hard  to  keep  up,  which  may  make  a  lazy 
man  of  your  begetter.  This  is  my  charge.  Already 
the  skipper  calls  in  blustering  tones,  and  is  blaming 
the  delay,  and  a  fairer  wind  has  opened  the  har- 
bour. Farewell,  little  book  :  you  know,  I  think,  one 
passenger  does  not  delay  a  vessel. 

1  M.  appears  to  anticipate  jealousy  :  cf.  xii.  Kp. 


233 


BOOK  XI 


LIBER    UNDEC1MUS 


Quo  tu,  quo,  liber  otiose,  tendis 

cultus  Sidone l  non  cotidiana  ? 

numquid  Parthenium  videre  ?  certe  : 

vadas  et  redeas  inevolutus. 

libros  non  legit  ille  sed  libellos  ;  5 

nee  Musis  vacat,  aut  suis  vacaret. 

ecquid  te  satis  aestimas  beatum, 

contingunt  tibi  si  manus  minores  ? 

vicini  pete  porticum  Quirini : 

turbam  non  habet  otiosiorem  10 

Pompeius  vel  Agenoris  puella, 

vel  primae  dominus  levis  carinae. 

sunt  illic  duo  tresve  qui  revolvant 

nostrarum  tineas  ineptiarum, 

sed  cum  sponsio  fabulaeque  lassae  15 

de  Scorpo  fuerint  et  Incitato. 

II 

TRISTE  supercilium  durique  severa  Catonis 
frons  et  aratoris  filia  Fabricii 

1  sindone  &. 


1  He  probably  read  these  on  behalf  of  the  Emperor. 
The  Temple  of  Quirinus  near  M.'s  house  ;  cf.  x.  Iviii.  10. 

f.  i 
236 


The  references  are  respectively  to  the  Portion  Pompeii 
(cf.  II.  xiv.  10) ;  the  Porticus  Europae  (cf.  n.  xiv.  15) ;  and 


BOOK    XI 


WHERE,  where  are  you  going,  idle  book,  smart 
in  purple  not  of  every  day?  Can  it  be  to.  see 
Parthenius  ?  No  doubt :  go  and  return  unopened  ; 
publications  he  does  not  read,  only  petitions,1  nor 
has  he  leisure  for  the  Muses,  or  he  would  have  leisure 
for  his  own.  Do  you  not  think  yourself  fortunate 
enough  if  lesser  hands  may  await  you  ?  Make  for 
Quirinus'  Colonnade  2  hard  by  ;  a  crowd  more  idle  not 
Pompey  contains,  nor  Agenor's  daughter,  nor  the  in- 
constant captain  of  the  first  ship.3  There  are  two  or 
three  there  who  may  unroll  my  twaddle,  fit  only  for 
worms,  but  only  when  the  bet  and  languid  tales 
about  Scorpus  and  Incitatus  4  are  done  with. 


II 

FORBIDDING  frowns,  and  rigid  Cato's  brow  austere, 
and  the  daughter  of  Fabricius  5  the  ploughman,  and 

the  Porticus  Argonautarum  (cf.  n.  xiv.  6).     Jason  is  called 
levis  because  of  his  conduct  to  Medea. 

4  Charioteers  :  cf.  x.  1.  and  X.  Ixxvi.  9. 

5  Fabricius,  a  type  of  the  old  Roman   simplicity  of   life. 
On  account  of  their  poverty,  his  daughters  were  dowered 
by  the  Senate. 

237 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

et  personati  fastus  et  regula  morum, 

quidquid  et  in  tenebris  non  sumus,  ite  foras. 

clamant  ecce  mei  "lo  Saturnalia"  versus  : 
et  licet  et  sub  te  praeside,  Nerva,  libet. 

lectores  tetrici  salebrosum  ediscite  Santram  : 
nil  mihi  vobiscum  est :  iste  liber  meus  est. 


Ill 

NON  urbana  mea  tantum  Pimpleide  gaudent 

otia,  nee  vacuis  auribus  ista  dainus, 
sed  meus  in  Geticis  ad  Martia  signa  pruinis 

a  rigido  teritur  centurione  liber, 
dicitur  et  nostros  can  tare  Britannia  versus.  5 

quid  prodest  ?  nescit  sacculus  ista  meus. 
at  quam  victuras  poteramus  pangere  chartas 

quanta  que  Pieria  proelia  flare  tuba, 
cum  pia  reddiderint  Augustum  numina  terris, 

et  Maecenatem  si  tibi,  Roma,  darent  I1  10 


IV 

SACRA  laresque  Phrygum,  quos  Troiae  maluit  heres 
quam  rapere  arsuras  Laomedontis  opes, 

scriptus  et  aeterno  mine  primum  luppiter  auro 
et  soror  et  summi  filia  tota  patris, 

1  darent  Heins.,  daret  codd. 

1  Who  succeeded  to  the  Empire  in  Oct.  96  A.D.,  this  book 
being  published  at  the  Saturnalia  in  December. 

2  A  Roman  grammarian  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar.     He 
wrote  a  treatise  on  famous  men,  and  a  grammatical  work, 
De  verborum  antiquitate.     He  is  mentioned  by  later  writers, 
including  Jerome. 

238 


BOOK   XI.  n-iv 

masked  Conceit,  and  Propriety,  and  all  things 
which  in  our  private  lives  we  are  not,  get  ye  gone ! 
See,  my  verses  cry  "  Ho  for  the  Saturnalia  ! "  'tis 
allowed,  and  under  you,  Nerva,1  our  Governor,  'tis 
our  joy  as  well.  Ye  strait-laced  readers,  learn  by 
heart  rugged  Santra 2  :  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
you  :  this  book  is  mine  ! 

Ill 

'Tis  not  city  idleness  alone  that  delights  in  my 
Muse,  nor  do  I  give  these  epigrams  to  vacant  ears, 
but  my  book,  amid  Getic  frosts,  beside  martial  stand- 
ards, is  thumbed  by  the  hardy  centurion,  and  Britain 
is  said  to  hum  my  verses.  What  profit  is  it  ?  My 
money-bag  knows  nothing  of  that.  But  what  im- 
mortal pages  could  I  frame,  and  of  wars  how  mighty 
could  I  blow  my  Pierian  trump,  if  the  kindly  deities, 
now  they  have  restored  Augustus3  to  earth,  were 
also,  Rome,  to  give  you  a  Maecenas  ! 


IV 

YE  sacred  symbols  and  native  gods  of  Phrygia, 
whom  Troy's  heir4  chose  to  rescue  rather  than  Lao- 
medon's  wealth  doomed  to  the  fire,  and  thou,  Jupiter, 
now  for  the  first  time  depicted  in  everlasting  gold,5 
and  thou,  sister  and  daughter — all  his  own  6 — pf  the 

s  i.e.  the  Emperor  Nerva. 

*  Aeneas  at  the  burning  of  Troy. 

6  Some  representation  of  Jupiter  placed  by  Nerva  in  the 
Temple  on  the  Capitol.  Aeterno  =  never  again  to  be  destroyed 
by  fire. 

6  Juno  and  Minerva,  the  latter  being  "all  his  own,"  as 
having  sprung  from  his  head. 

239 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

et  qui  purpureis  iam  tertia  nomina  fastis, 
lane,  refers  Nervae,  vos  precor  ore  pio  : 

hunc  omnes  servate  ducem,  servate  senatum  ; 
moribus  hie  vivat  principis,  ille  suis. 


TANTA  tibi  est  recti  revereiitia,  Caesar,  at  aequi 

quanta  Numae  fuerat :  sed  Numa  pauper  erat. 
ardua  res  haec  est,  opibus  non  tradere  mores 

et,  cum  tot  Croesos  viceris,  esse  Numam. 
si  redeant  veteres,  ingentia  nomina,  patres,  5 

Elysium  liceat  si  vacuare  nemus, 
te  colet  invictus  pro  libertate  Camillus, 

aurum  Fabricius  te  tribuente  volet ; 
te  duce  gaudebit  Brutus,  tibi  Sulla  cruentus 

imperium  tradet,  cum  positurus  erit ;  10 

et  te  private  cum  Caesare  Magnus  amabit, 

donabit  totas  et  tibi  Crassus  opes, 
ipse  quoque  infernis  revocatus  Ditis  ab  umbris 

si  Cato  reddatur,  Caesarianus  erit. 

VI 

UNCTIS  falciferi  senis  diebus, 
regnator  quibus  inperat  fritillus, 
versu  ludere  non  laborioso 

1  Ne'rva  being  consul  for  the  third  time.      The  consular 
records  were  kept  in  the  Temple  of  Janus  :  cf.  vm.  Ixvi.  11. 
'-  The  legendary  second  king  of  Rome. 

3  The  conqueror  of  Veii,  and  rescuer  of  Rome  from  the 
Gauls. 

4  Who  refused  the  presents  of  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus. 

8  M.  credits  S.  with  patriotism.     As  a  fact  S.  abdicated 
the  dictatorship  in  B.C.  79  at  the  height  of  his  power,  as  he 

240 


BOOK   XI.  iv-vi 

Almighty  Sire,  and  thou,  Janus,  who  for  the  third  time 
now  addest  Nerva's  name  to  the  annals  of  the  purple,1 
'tis  to  you  I  pray  with  pious  utterance.  This  our 
Chief  preserve  ye  all,  preserve  ye  the  Senate ;  by 
its  Prince's  pattern  may  it  live,  he  by  his  own  ! 


As  great  is  thy  reverence  for  right  and  justice, 
Caesar,  as  was  Numa's,  but  Numa2  was  poor.  'Tis  a 
hard  task  this,  not  to  sacrifice  manners  to  wealth, 
and,  though  thou  hast  surpassed  many  a  Croesus,  to 
be  a  Numa.  Were  our  sires  of  old,  mighty  names,  to 
return,  were  it  allowed  to  empty  the  Elysian  grove, 
to  thee  Camillus,3  liberty's  unconquered  champion, 
will  pay  his  court,  gold  at  thy  giving  will  Fabricius  4 
accept,  in  thee  as  captain  will  Brutus  be  glad,  to 
thee  bloody  Sulla  will  resign  his  power  when  he 
shall  seek  to  lay  it  down ; 5  and  thee  the  Great 
Captain,  allied  with  Caesar,  only  a  private  citizen,  will 
love,  and  Crassus0  will  bestow  on  thee  all  his  wealth. 
Cato,7  too,  himself,  were  he  called  back  to  return  from 
the  nether  shades  of  Dis,  will  be  Caesar's  partizan. 

VI 

ON  the  old  Scy the- bearer's  8  feastful^  days, 
whereof  the  dice-box  9  is  king  and  lord,  you,  cap- 
had  exterminated  all  his  opponents  and  superstitiously  fearing 
to  trespass  further  on  the  kindness  of  Fortune,  whose  child 
he  regarded  himself. 

"  A  member  of  the  first  Triumvirate  (Pompey,  Crassus  and 
Caesar)  and  on«  of  the  richest  Romans. 

7  Who  committed  suicide  rather  than   submit   to  Julius 
.Caesar. 

8  Saturn,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  Saturnalia. 

9  Gambling  was  allowed  at  the  Saturnalia:  cf.  v.  Ixxxiv. 5. 

241 

VOL.    II.  R 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

permittis,  puto,  pilleata  Roma. 

risisti ;  licet  ergo,  non  vetamur.       .  5 

pallentes  procul  hinc  abite  curae  ; 

quidquid  venerit  obvium  loquamur 

morosa  sine  cogitatione. 

misce  dimidios,  puer,  trientes, 

quales  Pythagoras  dabat  Neroni,  10 

misce,  Dindyme,  sed  frequentiores  : 

possum  nil  ego  sobrius  ;  bibenti 

succurrent  mihi  quindecim  poetae. 

da  nunc  basia,  sed  Catulliana  : 

quae  si  tot  fuerint  quot  ille  dixit,  15 

donabo  tibi  Passerem  Catulli. 

VII 

I  AM  certe  stupido  non  dices,  Paula,  marito, 

ad  moechum  quotiens  longius  ire  voles, 
"  Caesar  in  Albanum  iussit  me  mane  venire, 

Caesar  Circeios."     iam  stropha  talis  abit. 
Penelopae  licet  esse  tibi  sub  principe  Nerva :  5 

sed  prohibet  scabies  ingeniumque  vetus. 
infelix,  quid  ages  ?     aegram  simulabis  amicam  ? 

haerebit  dominae  vir  comes  ipse  suae, 
ibit  et  ad  fratrem  tecum  matremque  patremque. 

quas».igitur  fraudes  ingeniosa  pares?  10 

diceret  hystericam  se  forsitan  altera  moecha 

in  Sinuessano  velle  sedere  lacu. 
quanto  tu  melius,  quotiens  placet  ire  fututum, 

quae  verum  mavis  dicere,  Paula,  viro  ! 

1  The  pilleum,  or  cap  of  liberty  worn  by  manumitted 
slaves  (cf.  n.  Ixviii.  4)  was  also  generally  worn  at  the 
Saturnalia.  It  was  a  symbol  of  licence.  Thus,  on  the  death 
of  Nero,  the  common  people  assumed  it,  and  ran  about  the 
whole  city  :  Suet.  Nero  Ivii. 

242 


BOOK    XI.  vi-vn 

clad l  Rome,  allow  me,  I  wot,  to  trifle  in  verse  un- 
toilsome.  You  have  smiled :  I  may  then,  I  am  not 
forbidden.  Ye  pallid  cares,  far  hence  away !  what- 
ever comes  to  my  mind  let  me  speak  without 
wrinkled  meditation.  Blend,  boy,  cups  half  and 
half,  such  as  Pythagoras  -  offered  Nero ;  blend  them, 
thou,  Dindymus,3  and  that  more  oft ;  nothing  sober 
can  I  do :  as  I  drink  a  fifteen-poets  power  will  bear 
me  up.  Give  me  kisses  now,  and  by  Catullus's 
measure ;  if  they  be  as  many  as  he  said,  I  will  give 
thee  a  Sparrow  of  Catullus.4 


VII 

Now  at  least  you  will  not  say,  Paula,  to  your  dolt 
of  a  husband,  every  time  you  want  to  go  to  a  lover 
at  a  distance,  "  Caesar  bade  me  come  in  the  morning 
to  his  Alban  villa,  Caesar  bade  me  come  to  Circeii." 
Now  such  a  manoeuvre  is  off.  'Tis  lawful  for  you 
to  be  a  Penelope  under  Nerva  as  chief,  but  your 
itch  and  inveterate  bent  forbid  you.  Unfortunate 
woman,  what  will  you  do  ?  Will  you  pretend  the 
sickness  of  a  friend  ?  Your  husband  in  person  will 
cling  to  his  dame's  skirts,  and  will  go  with  you  to 
brother  and  mother  and  father.  What  fraud  then 
would  your  ingenuity  devise  ?  Another  wanton 
would  perhaps  say  she  is  hysterical,  and  wished  to 
sit  in  Sinuessa's  baths.  How  much  better  is  your 
practice  whenever  you  have  a  mind  to  stray !  You, 
Paula,  prefer  to  tell  your  husband  the  truth ! 

2  Nero's  cupbearer,  with  whom  he  went  through  the  form 
of  marriage  :  cf.  Suet.  Nero  xxix.  ;  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  37. 

8  M.'s  attendant :  cf.  X.  xlii. 

4  C.  asked  Lesbia  for  thousands  of  kisses  (Cat.  v.  7-9) ;  he 
also  wrote  a  poem  (Cat.  iii.)  on  the  death  of  her  sparrow. 

243 
R  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL. 

VIII 

LAPSA  quod  externis  spirant  opobalsama  truncis, 

ultima  quod  curvo  quae  cadit  aura  croco  ; 
poma  quod  hiberna  maturescentia  capsa, 

arbore  quod  verna  luxuriosus  ager  ; 
de  Palatinis  dominae  quod  Serica  prelis,  5 

'sucina  virginea  quod  regelata  manu  ; 
amphora  quod  nigri,  sed  longe,  fracta  Falerni, 

quod  qui  Sicanias  detinet  hortus  apes  ; 
quod  Cosmi  redolent  alabastra  focique  deorum, 

quod  modo  divitibus  lapsa  corona  comis  :  10 

singula  quid  dicam  ?     non  sunt  satis  ;  omnia  misce  : 

hoc  fragrant  pueri  basia  mane  mei. 
scire  cupis  nomen  ?     si  propter  basia,  dicam. 

iurasti.     nimium  scire,  Sabine,  cupis. 

IX 

CLARUS  fronde  lovis,  Romani  fama  coturni, 
spirat  Apellea  redditus  arte  Memor. 


X 

CONTULIT  ad  saturas  ingentia  pectora  Turnus. 
cur  non  ad  Memoris  carmina  ?     frater  erat. 


XI 

TOLLK,  puer,  calices  tepidique  toreumata  Nili 
et  mihi  secura  pocula  trade  manu 

1  Which  was  sprinkled  about  the  theatre  or  amphitheatre  : 
cf.  v.  xxv.  8  ;  viu.  xxxiii.  4. 

2  He  swears  too  eagerly,  and  M.  withholds  the  name. 

244 


BOOK    XI.  vni-xi 

VIII 

BREATH  of  balm  shed  from  foreign  trees,  of  the 
last  effluence  that  falls  from  a  curving  jet  of  saffron;1 
perfume  of  apples  ripening  in  their  winter  chest, 
of  the  field  lavish  with  the  leafage  of  spring ;  of 
Augusta's  silken  robes  from  Palatine  presses,  of 
amber  warmed  by  a  maiden's  hand ;  of  a  jar  of  dark 
Falernian  shattered,  but  far  off,  of  a  garden  that 
stays  therein  Sicilian  bees ;  the  scent  of  Cosmus' 
alabaster  boxes,  and  of  the  altars  of  the  gods ;  of 
a  chaplet  fallen  but  now  from  a  rich  man's  locks — 
why  should  I  speak  of  each  ?  Not  enough  are  they  : 
mix  them  all ;  such  is  the  fragrance  of  my  boy's 
kisses  at  morn.  Would  you  learn  his  name?  If  the 
kisses  only  make  you  ask,  I  will  tell  you.  You  have 
sworn.  You  want  to  know  too  much,  Sabinus!2 

IX 

ILLUSTRIOUS  in  Jove's  leafage,3  Memor,  the  glory 
of  the  Roman  buskin,  breathes  here,  rendered  by 
Apelles'  art. 

X 

TuRNUs4  brought  to  Satire  a  mighty  intellect,  why 
not  to  Memor's  song?  He  was  his  brother. 

XI 

AWAY,  boy,  with  chalices  and  embossed  glasses  from 
the  warm  Nile,  and  offer  me  with  fearless  hand  the 

3  cf.  iv.  i.  6.     Menior  was  a  tragic  poet,  and  brother  of 
Turnus  in  the  next  epigram. 

4  >•/.  vn.  xcvii.  8.     As  to  Meir.or  see  preceding  epigram. 
Turnus  would  not  compete  with  his  own  brother. 

245 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

trita  patrutn  labris  et  tonso  pura  ministro ; 

anticus  mensis  restituatur  honor, 
te  potare  decet  gemma  qui  Mentora  t'rangis  5 

in  scaphium  moechae,  Sardanapalle,  tuae. 

XII 

lus  tibi  natorum  vel  septem,  Zoile,  detur, 
dum  matrem  nemo  det  tibi,  nemo  patrem. 

XIII 

QUISQUIS  Flaminiam  teris,  viator, 

noli  nobile  praeterire  marmor. 

urbis  deliciae  salesque  Nili, 

ars  et  gratia,  lusus  et  voluptas, 

Romani  decus  et  dolor  theatri  5 

atque  omnes  Veneres  Cupidinesque 

hoc  sunt  condita,  quo  Paris,  sepulchro. 

XIV 

HEREDES,  nolite  brevem  sepelire  colonum  : 
nam  terra  est  illi  quantulacumque  gravis. 

XV 

SUNT  chartae  mihi  quas  Catonis  uxor 
et  quas  horribiles  legant  Sabinae  : 

1  Not  by  the  ringleted  minion  of  the  day. 

2  cf.  iv.  xxxix.  5  ;  ix.  lix.  16. 
*  cf.  ii.  xci.  6. 

4  He  is  a  mere  terrae  filius,  a  homo  non  luduis,  i.e.  of  no 
account :  cf.  vin.  Ixiv.  18. 

246 


BOOK    XI.  xi-xv 

cups  worn  by  our  father's  lips  and  cleansed  by  a  short- 
haired  attendant : l  let  its  old-world  honour  be  given 
back  to  the  board.  It  becomes  you  to  drink  from  a 
jewelled  cup,  who  break  up  Mentor's2  handiwork  to 
shape.  Sardanapallus,  an  utensil  for  your  mistress. 

XII 

LET  the  rights  of  a  father  of  sons,3  even  of  seven, 
be  granted  you,  Zoilus  —  provided  no  man  assign  you 
a  mother,  no  man  a  father.4 

XIII 

WHOE'ER  thou  art,  traveller,  that  treadest  the 
Flaminian  Way,  give  heed  not  to  pass  by  a  noble 
monument.  The  delight  of  the  city  and  the  wit 
of  Nile,  incarnate  art  and  grace,  frolic  and  joy,  the 
fame  and  the  affliction  of  Rome's  theatre,  and  all 
the  Venuses  and  Cupids,5  are  buried  in  this  tomb 
where  Paris  6  lies. 

XIV 

YE  heirs,  do  not  bury  the  dwarf  farmer;  for  any 
earth  would  be  heavy  upon  him.7 

XV 

I  HAVE  writings  that  Cato's  wife  and  that  grim 
Sabine  dames  might  read ;  I  wish  this  little  book 

5  An  echo  of  Catullus,  iii.  1. 

6  A   famous  actor  of  mimes,  put  to  death  by  Domitian 
because  of  an  intrigue  with  Domitia,  the  Empress  :  cf.  Suet. 
Dom.  iii. 

7  A  common  wish  was  "sit  tibi  terra  levis":  cf.  v.  xxxiv. 9; 
ix.  xxix.  11. 

247 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

hie  totus  volo  rideat  libellus 

et  sit  nequior  omnibus  libellis. 

qui  vino  madeat  nee  erubescat  5 

pingui  sordidus  esse  Cosmiano, 

ludat  cum  pueris,  amet  puellas, 

nee  per  circuitus  loquatur  il l;nn. 

ex  qua  nascimur,  omnium  parentem, 

quam  sanctus  Numa  mentulam  vocabat.        10 

versus  hos  tamen  esse  tu  memento 

Saturnalicios,  Apollinaris : 

mores  non  habet  hie  meos  libellus. 

XVI 

Qui  gravis  es  nimium,  potes  hinc  iam,  lector,  abire 

quo  libet :  urbanae  scripsimus  ista  togae  ; 
iam  l  mea  Lampsacio  lascivit  pagina  versu 

et  Tartesiaca  concrepat  aera  manu. 
o  quotiens  rigida  pulsabis  pallia  vena,  5 

sis  gravior  Curio  Fabricioque  licet ! 
tu  quoque  nequitias  nostri  lususque  libelli 

uda,  puella,  leges,  sis  Patavina  licet, 
erubuit  posuitque  meum  Lucretia  librum, 

sed  coram  Bruto  ;  Brute,  recede  :  leget.  10 

XVII 

NON  omnis  nostri  nocturna  est  pagina  libri : 
invenies  et  quod  mane,  Sabine,  legas. 

1  IK i  in  y. 

1  cf.  in.  lv.  1.         2  The  second  legendary  king  of  Rome. 
3  The  same  caution  is  found  in  i.  iv.  8. 
*  i.e.  Priapean,  L.  being  a  town  on  the  Hellespont  where 
Priapus  was  worshipped. 

248 


BOOK    XI.  xv-xvn 

to  laugh  from  end  to  end,  and  be  naughtier  than 
all  my  little  books.  Let  it  be  drenched  in  wine 
and  not  ashamed  to  be  stained  with  rich  Cosmian  l 
unguents  ;  let  it  play  with  the  boys,  love  the  girls, 
and  in  no  roundabout  phrase  speak  of  that  where- 
from  we  are  born,  the  parent  of  all,  which  hallowed 
Numa2  called  by  its  own  name.  Yet  remember  that 
these  verses  are  of  the  Saturnalia,  Apollinaris :  this 
little  book  does  not  express3  my  own  morals. 

XVI 

You,  reader,  who  are  too  strait-laced,  can  now  go 
away  from  here  whither  you  will :  I  wrote  these 
verses  for  the  citizen  of  wit ;  now  my  page  wantons 
in  verse  of  Lampsacus,4  and  beats  the  timbrel  with 
the  hand  of  a  figurante  of  Tartessus.5  Oh,  how 
often  will  you  with  your  ardour  disarrange  your 
garb,6  though  you  may  be  more  strait-laced  than 
Curius  and  Fabricius !  You  also,  O  girl,  may,  when 
in  your  cups,  read  the  naughtiness  and  sportive 
sallies  of  my  little  book,  though  you  may  be  from 
Patavium.7  Lucretia 8  blushed  and  laid  down  my 
volume  ;  but  Brutus  was  present.  Brutus,  go  away  : 
she  will  read  it. 

XVII 

NOT  every  page  of  my  book  is  for  reading  at  night ; 
you  will  find,  too,  what  you  may  read  in  the  morning," 
Sabinus. 

5  i.e.  of  a  female  dancer  from  Gades  :  cf.  v.  Ixxviii.  26. 

6  For  the  idea  cf.  Catullus,  xxxii.  11. 

7  Where  the  women  had  the  reputation  of  chastity :  cf.  vi. 
xlii.  4.  8  Put  here  as  symbolical  of  chastity. 

9  i.e.  when  you  are  sober. 

249 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XVIII 

DONASTI,  Lupe,  rus  sub  urbe  nobis ; 

sed  rus  est  mihi  mains  in  fenestra. 

rus  hoc  dicere,  rus  potes  vocare  ? 

in  quo  ruta  facit  nemus  Dianae, 

argutae  tegit  ala  quod  cicadae,  5 

quod  formica  die  comedit  uno, 

clusae  cui  folium  rosae  corona  est ; 

in  quo  non  magis  invenitur  herba 

quam  Cosmi  folium  piperve  crudum  ; 

in  quo  nee  cucumis  iacere  rectus 

iiec  serpens  habitare  tola  possit. 

urucam  male  pascit  hortus  unam, 

consumpto  moritur  culix  salicto, 

et  talpa  est  mihi  fossor  atque  arator.    • 

non  boletus  hiare,  non  mariscae  lo 

ridere  aut  violae  patere  possunt. 

finis  mus  populatur  et  colono 

tamquam  sus  Calydonius  timetur, 

et  sublata  volantis  ungue  Procnes 

in  nido  seges  est  hirundinino  ;  'JO 

et  cum  stet  sine  falce  mentulaque, 

non  est  dimidio  locus  Priapo. 

vix  implet  cocleam  peracta  messis, 

et  mustum  nuce  condimus  picata. 

errasti,  Lupe,  littera  sed  una  :  "25 

nam  quo  tempore  praedium  dedisti, 

mallem  tu  mihi  prandium  dedisses. 


1  "  A  leaf  of  rue  "  seems  to  have  been  proverbial  for  a 
narrow  space  :  Petr.  37,  58  ;  cf.  also  xi.  xxxi.  17. 

2  The  swallow. 


250 


BOOK   XI.  xvin 

XVIII 

You  have  given  me,  Lupus,  a  suburban  farm,  but  I 
have  a  bigger  farm  in  my  window.  A  farm  can  you 
call  this,  style  this  a  farm,  wherein  a  plant  of  rue  1 
forms  a  grove  of  Diana,  which  the  wing  of  a  shrill 
cicala  covers,  which  an  ant  eats  up  in  a  single  day  ;  for 
which  a  shut  rose's  petal  would  be  a  canopy  ;  wherein 
grass  is  no  more  found  than  a  leaf  for  Cosmus'  per- 
fumes or  green  pepper ;  wherein  a  cucumber  cannot 
lie  straight,  nor  a  snake  harbour  its  whole  length  ? 
The  garden  gives  short  commons  to  a  single  cater- 
pillar ;  a  gnat,  when  it  has  consumed  the  willow, 
expires,  and  a  mole  is  my  ditcher  and  ploughman. 
No  mushroom  can  swell,  no  figs  can  split,  or  violets 
expand.  My  borders  a  mouse  ravages,  and  is  feared 
by  the  tenant  as  much  as  a  Calydonian  boar,  and  my 
crop,  lifted  by  the  claws  of  flying  Procne,2  lies  in 
a  swallow's  nest ;  and,  though  he  stands  shorn  of 
his  sickle  and  his  appurtenances,  there  is  no  room 
by  half  for  Priapus.  My  harvest,  when  gathered, 
hardly  fills  a  snail-shell,  and  we  store  the  must  in  a 
pitch-sealed  nut.  You  have  made  a  mistake,  Lupus, 
but  only  by  one  letter  ;  for  when  you  gave  me  a  fee 
I  would  you  had  given  me  a  feed.3 

3  Lupus  gave  a  praedium  (land),  and  M.  wanted  a  prandium 
(lunch),  the  difference  being  the  letter  n.  "Fee"  in  law 
means  an  estate  in  land  that  descends  to  the  holder's  heir ; 
here  used  in  the. sense  of  landed  property. 

251 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XIX 

QUAEUIS  cur  nolim  te  ducere,  Galla  ?     diserta  es. 
saepe  soloecismum  mentula  nostra  facit. 

XX 

CAESARIS  Augusti  lascivos,  livide,  versus 

sex  lege,  qui  tristis  verba  Latina  legis : 
"Quod  futuit  Glaphyran  Antonius,  hanc  inihi  poenani 

Fulvia  constituit,  se  quoque  uti  futuam. 
Fulviam  ego  ut  futuam  ?    quod  si  me  Manius  oret     5 

pedicem,  faciam  ?    non  puto,  si  sapiam. 
'  Aut  futue,  aut  pugnemus '  ait.    quid  quod  mihi  vita 

carior  est  ipsa  mentula  ?    signa  canant !  ' 
absolvis  lepidos  nimirum,  Auguste,  libellos, 

qui  scis  Romana  simplicitate  loqui.  10 

XXI 

LYDIA  tarn  laxa  est  equitis  quam  culus  aeni,' 
quam  celer  arguto  qui  sonat  acre  trochus, 

1  ~cf.  Juv.  vi.  456,  soloecismum  liceat  fecisse  marito,  of  the 
husband  of  a  learned  wife.     But  here  M.  adds  an  obscene 
sense. 

2  A   beautiful   hetaera,    whose  charms  procured  her  son 
Archelaus  at  the  hands  of  Antony  the  kingdom  of  Cappadocia. 

3  These  lines  are   historically   interesting  as    giving   the 
explanation  attributed  to  Octavius  of  the  origin  of  the  civil 
war  between  him  and  Antony,  namely,  pique  on  the  part  of 
Fulvia,  Antony's  wife,  at  the  rejection  by  Octavius  of  her 
advances.     Montaigne  (iii.  12)  refers  to  them  as  showing  for 
how  small  causes  great  emperors  will  go  to  .war. 

The  scene  between  Fulvia  and  Octavius  was  depicted  on  a 

252 


BOOK    XL  xix-xxi 

XIX 

Do  you  ask  why  I  am  loth  to  marry  you,  Galla  ? 
You  are  a  blue-stocking.  My  manhood  often  com- 
mits a  solecism.1 

XX 

READ  six  wanton  verses  of  Caesar  Augustus,  you 
spiteful  fellow,  who  with  a  sour  face  read  words  of 
Latin : 

"  Because  Antony  handles  Glaphyra,2  Fulvia  has  ap- 
pointed this  penalty  for  me,  that  I,  too,  should  handle 
her.  I  to  handle  Fulvia  ?  What  if  Manius  were  to 
implore  me  to  treat  him  as  a  Ganymede  ?  Am  I  to 
do  it  ?  I  trow  not,  if  I  be  wise.  '  Either  handle  me 
or  let  us  fight,'  she  says.  And  what  that  my  person 
is  dearer  to  me  than  my  very  life  ?  Let  the  trumpets 
sound."  3 

You  justify  for  certain  my  sprightly  little  books, 
Augustus,  who  know  how  to  speak  with  Roman 
bluntness.4 

XXI 

LYDIA  is  as  widely  developed  as  the  rump  of  a 
bronze  equestrian  statue,  as  the  swift  hoop  that  re- 
sounds with  its  tinkling  rings,5  as  the  wheel  so  often 

cameo  by  Arellius,  probably  the  painter  mentioned  by  Pliny, 
N.H.  xxxv.  37,  as  having  outraged  his  art  by  depicting 
prostitutes.  Fulvia  is  represented  as  sitting  nude  upon  a 
bed,  and  holding  Octavius  by  the  arm.  He  is  in  full  armour, 
and  is  beckoning  to  two  soldiers  in  the  rear.  The  cameo  has 
been  reproduced  in  a  rare  book  published  at  the  Vatican 
Press  in  1786,  and  entitled  "Monumens  de  la  vie  privee  des 
douze  Ce'sars  d'apres  une  suite  de  pierres  gravies  sur  leur 
regne." 

4  As  to  Augustus's  plain  speech,  cf.  Suet.  Aug.  Ixix. 

5  cf.  xiv.  clxviii. 

253 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

quam  rota  transmisso  totiens  inpacta  petauro, 

quam  vetus  a  crassa  calceus  udus  aqua, 
quam  quae  rara  vagos  expectant  retia  turdos,  5 

quam  Pompeiano  vela  negata  Noto, 
quam  quae  de  pthisico  lapsa  est  armilla  cinaedo, 

culcita  Leuconico  quam  viduata  suo, 
quam  veteres  bracae  Brittonis  pauperis,  et  quam 

turpe  Ravennatis  guttur  onocrotali.  10 

hanc  in  piscina  dicor  futuisse  marina. 

nescio  ;  piscinam  me  futuisse  puto. 


XXII 

MOLLIA  quod  nivei  duro  teris  ore  Galaesi 

basia,  quod  nudo  cum  Ganymede  iaces, 
(quis  negat?)  hoc  nimiumst.     sed  sit  satis;  inguina 
saltern 

parce  fututrici  sollicitare  manu. 
levibus  in  pueris  plus  haec  quam  mentula  peccat       5 

et  faciunt  digiti  praecipitantque  virum  : 
inde  tragus  celeresque  pili  mirandaque  matri 

barba,  nee  in  clara  balnea  luce  placent. 
divisit  natura  marem  :  pars  una  puellis, 

una  viris  genita  est.     utere  parte  tua.  10 


1  A  very  obscure  line,  which  may  mean  "so  of  ten  struck 
by  the  acrobat  in  his  flight."  The  nature  of  the  petaurum 
has  never  been  clearly  known  ;  sometimes  it  seems  to  be  a 
kind  of  springboard  or  seesaw,  sometimes  a  wheel  suspended 
in  the  air  :  cf.  n.  Ixxxvi.  7.  The  performance  was  dangerous : 
Fest.  xiv.  a.v.  Pttaurista,  quoting  Arist.  Fr.  234. 


254 


BOOK    XI.  xxi-xxn 

struck  from  the  extended  springboard,1  as  a  worn- 
out  shoe  drenched  by  muddy  water,  as  the  wide- 
meshed  net  that  lies  in  wait  for  wandering  fieldfares, 
as  an  awning  that  does  not  belly  to  the  wind  2  in 
Pompey's  theatre,  as  a  bracelet  that  has  slipped 
from  the  arm  of  a  consumptive  catamite,  as  a  pillow 
widowed  of  its  Leuconian  stuffing,8  as  the  aged 
breeches  of  a  pauper  Briton,  and  as  the  foul  throat 
of  a  pelican 4  of  Ravenna.  This  woman  I  am  said 
to  have  embraced  in  a  marine  fishpond :  I  don't 
know ;  I  think  I  embraced  the  fishpond  itself. 


XXII 

THAT  with  your  hard  mouth  you  rub  the  soft 
lips  of  white-cheeked  Galaesus,  that  you  consort 
with  a  naked  Ganymede,  'tis  too  much — who  denies 
it  ? — but  let  that  be  enough ;  at  least  refrain  from 
waking  passions  with  lascivious  hand.  Towards 
beardless  boys  this  is  a  greater  sinner  than  your 
yard,  and  your  fingers  create  and  hasten  manhood. 
Thence  comes  a  goatish  odour,  and  quick-springing 
hair,  and  a  beard,  a  wonder  to  mothers,  and  baths 
in  broad  day  are  displeasing.  Nature  has  separated 
the  male :  one  part  has  been  produced  for  girls,  one 
for  men.  Use  your  own  part. 

2  cf.  ix.  xxxviii.  6.  3  cf.  xiv.  clix. 

4  Described  by  Pliny,  N.H.  x.  66.  By  "throat"  M. 
means  the  large  pouch  under  the  mandibles  (the  alterius  uteri 
genus  of  Pliny's  description),  where  the  pelican  stores  its 
catch  of  fish  previously  to  consumption. 


255 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXIII 

NUBERE  Sila  mihi  nulla  non  lege  parata  est ; 

sed  Silam  nulla  ducere  lege  volo. 
cum  tamen  instaret,  "  Deciens  mihi  dotis  in  auro 

sponsa  dabis  "  dixi ;  "  quid  minus  esse  potest  ? 
nee  futuam  quamvis  prima  te  nocte  maritus,  o 

communis  tecum  nee  mihi  lectus  erit ; 
complectarque  meam,  nee  tu  prohibebis,  amicam, 

ancillam  mittes  et  mihi  iussa  tuam. 
te  spectante  dabit  iiobis  lasciva  minister 

basia,  sive  meus  sive  erit  ille  tuus.  10 

ad  cenam  venies,  sed  sic  divisa  recumbes 

ut  non  tangantur  pallia  nostra  tuis. 
oscula  rara  dabis  nobis  et  non  dabis  ultro, 

nee  quasi  nupta  dabis  sed  quasi  mater  anus, 
si  potes  ista  pati,  si  nil  perferre  recusas,  15 

invenies  qui  te  ducere,  Sila,  velit." 

XXIV 

DUM  te  prosequor  et  dbnuiin  reduco, 

aurem  dum  tibi  praesto  garrienti, 

et  quidquid  loqueris  facisque  laudo, 

quot  versus  poterant,  Labujle,  nasci ! 

hoc  damnum  tibi  non  videtur  esse,  5 

si  quod  Roma  legit,  requirit  hospes, 

non  deridet  eques,  tenet  senator, 

laudat  causidicus,  poeta  carpit, 

propter  te  perit  ?    hoc,  Labulle,  verum  est  ? 

hoc  quisquam  ferat  ?    ut  tibi  tuorum  10 

sit  maior  numerus  togatulorum, 

librorum  mihi  sit  minor  meorum  ? 

256 


BOOK   XI.  xxm-xxiv 

XXIII 

SILA  is  ready  to  marry  me  on  any  terms,  but  on  no 
terms  am  I  willing  to  take  Sila  to  wife.  Yet,  when 
she  urged  me :  "  You  shall  bring  me,  as  bride's  dower, 
in  gold  a  million  sesterces,"  I  said:  "What  can  be 
smaller  than  that  ?  And  I  will  have  no  marital  re- 
lations with  you  even  on  the  wedding-night,  nor  shall 
my  bed  be  the  same  as  yours ;  and  I  will  embrace 
my  mistress,  and  you  shall  not  forbid  me,  and,  if 
bidden,  you  shall  send  me  your  own  maid.  Before 
your  eyes  an  attendant  shall  give  me  wanton  kisses, 
whether  he  is  my  own  or  yours.  You  shall  dine  with 
me,  but  you  shall  recline  so  apart  from  me  that  my 
robe  is  not  touched  by  yours.  Kisses  you  shall  give 
me  but  rarely,  and  you  shall  not  give  them  uninvited  ; 
and  you  shall  not  give  them  like  a  bride,  but  like  an 
aged  mother.  If  you  can  suffer  that,  if  there  be 
nothing  you  refuse  to  endure — you  will  find  a  man, 
Sila,  who  is  willing  to  marry  you  !  " 


XXIV 

WWLE  I  escort  you  and  bring  you  home,  while  I 
lend  my  ear  to  your  babbling,  and  praise  whatever 
you  say  and  do,  how  many  verses,  Labullus,  might 
have  seen  the  light !  Does  not  this  seem  to  you  an 
injury  if,  what  Rome  reads,  the  stranger  asks  for, 
the  knight  does  not  laugh  at,  the  senator  knows  by 
heart,  the  pleader  praises,  the  poet  carps  at — this 
because  of  you  is  lost  ?  Is  this  fair,  Labullus  ?  Is 
this  what  any  man  would  endure  ?  That  the  number 
of  your  wretched  clients  should  increase,  of  my 
books  the  number  decrease  ?  'Tis  now  almost  thirty 

25? 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

triginta  prope  iam  diebus  una  est 

nobis  pagina  vix  peracta.     sic  fit 

cum  cenare  domi  poeta  non  vult.  15 

XXV 

ILLA  salax  nimium  nee  paucis  nota  puellis 
stare  Lino  desit  mentula.     lingua,  cave. 

XXVI 

O  MIHI  grata  quies,  o  blanda,  Telesphore,  cura, 

qualis  in  amplexu  non  fuit  ante  meo, 
basia  da  nobis  vetulo,  puer,  uda  Falerno, 

pocula  da  labris  facta  minora  tuis. 
addideris  super  haec  Veneris  si  gaudia  vera,  5 

esse  negem  melius  cum  Ganymede  lovi. 

XXVII 

FKRREUS  es,  si  stare  potest  tibi  mentula,  Flacce, 

cum  te  sex  cyathos  orat  arnica  gari, 
vel  duo  frusta  rogat  cybii  tenuemve  lacertum 

nee  dignam  toto  se  botryone  putat ; 
cui  portat  gaudens  ancilla  paropside  rubra  5 

allecem,  sed  quam  protinus  ilia  voret ; 
aut  cum  perfricuit  frontem  posuitque  pudorem," 

sucida  palliolo  vellera  quinque  petit, 
at  mea  me  libram  foliati  poscat  arnica 

aut  virides  gemmas  sardonychasve  pares,  10 

nee  nisi  prima  velit  de  Tusco  Serica  vico 

aut  centum  aureolos  sic  velut  aera  roget. 
nunc  tu  velle  putas  haec  me  donare  puellae  ? 

nolo,  sed  his  ut  sit  digna  puella  volo. 

1  The  foliatum  or  nardinum  was   a  choice  compound  of 
nard,  inyrrh,  and  other  aromatic  herbs:  cf.  Plin.  N.Jf.  xiii.  2. 

258 


BOOK   XI.  xxiv-xxvii 

days,  and  scarce  a  single  page  has  been  finished. 
This  is  the  result  when  a  poet  does  not  wish  to  dine 
at  home ! 

XXV 

QUELLA  troppo  salace  mentola,  rie  nota^a  poche 
ragazze,  cessa  stare  a  Lino :  guardati,  O  lingua. 

XXVI 

O  THOU,  my  pleasant  solace,  O  thou,  Telesphorus, 
my  soothing  care,  whose  peer  has  never  yet  lain  in 
my  embrace,  give  me  kisses,  boy,  dewy  with  aged 
Falernian,  give  me  the  cup  that  has  minished  beneath 
thy  lips.  If,  to  crown  these,  thou  shalt  add  love's 
true  joys,  then  should  I  say  Jove's  lot  with  Ganymede 
is  not  more  blest. 

XXVII 

You  are  a  man  of  iron  if  you  can  show  any  amorous 
power,  Flaccus,  when  your  mistress  prays  you  for 
six  helpings  of  fish-pickle,  or  asks  for  two  slices  of 
tunny,  or  a  skinny  lizard-fish,  and  does  not  think  her- 
self worth  a  whole  bunch  of  grapes — a  woman  to 
whom  her  maid  delightedly  carries  anchovy  sauce  in 
a  dark  earthenware  platter,  to  be  immediately  gulped 
down ;  or,  who,  when  she  has  hardened  her  brow 
and  laid  aside  all  shame,  solicits  five  greasy  skins  to 
make  a  small  mantle.  But  let  my  mistress  demand 
of  me  a  pound  of  nard,1  or  emeralds,  or  a  pair  of 
sardonyxes,  and  not  look  at  any  but  prime  silk  from 
the  Tuscan  street,  or  let  her  beg  a  hundred  gold 
coins  just  as  if  they  were  pence.  Now  do  you 
imagine  I  am  willing  to  give  these  things  to  a  girl  ? 
I  am  not ;  but  that  a  girl  should  be  worthy  of  these 
things,  I  do  wish. 

259 

s  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XXVIII 

INVASIT  medici  Nasica  phreneticus  Eucti 
et  percidit  Hylan.     hie,  puto,  sanus  erat. 

XXIX 

LANGUIDA  cum  vetula  tractare  virilia  dextra 

coepisti,  iugulor  pollice,  Phylli,  tuo  : 
nam  cum  me  murem,  cum  me  tua  lumina  dicis, 

horis  me  refici  vix  puto  posse  decem. 
blanditias  nescis  :  "  Dabo  "  die  "  tibi  milia  centum    5 

et  dabo  Setini  iugera  culta  soli ; 
accipe  vina  domum  pueros  chryseudeta  mensas." 

nil  opus  est  digitis :  sic  mihi,  Phylli,  frica. 

XXX 

Os  male  causidicis  et  dicis  olere  poetis. 
sed  fellatori,  Zoile,  peius  olet. 

XXXI 

ATREUS  Caecilius  cucurbitarum 

sic  illas  quasi  filios  Thyestae 

in  partes  lacerat  secatque  mille. 

gustu  protinus  has  edes  in  ipso, 

has  prima  feret  alterave  cena,  ,5 

has  cena  tibi  tertia  reponet, 

hinc  seras  epidipnidas  parabit. 

hinc  pistor  fatuas  facit  placentas, 

260 


BOOK   XI.  xxvm-xxxi 

XXVIII 

NASICA,  "a  madman,"  attacked  Doctor  Euctus's 
Hylas  and  outraged  him.  This  fellow  was,  I  imagine, 
sane  ! 

XXIX 

WHEN  you  begin  to  paw  my  apathetic  person 
with  your  antediluvian  hands,  I  am  murdered  by 
that  finger  of  yours,  Phyllis ;  for  when  you  call  me 
"mouse,"  when  you  call  me  "light  of  your  eyes,"  I 
can  scarcely,  I  think,  get  over  it  in  ten  hours.  Blan- 
dishments you  know  nothing  of :  say,  "  I  will  give 
you  a  hundred  thousand  sesterces,"  and  "  I  will  give 
you  well-tilled  acres  of  Setine  land ;  accept  wines, 
a  town  house,  slaves,  enamelled  dishes,  tables." 
I  don't  require  your  thumbing :  scratch  me  in  this 
way,  Phyllis. 

XXX 

VILELY  smells,  you  say,  the  breath  of  lawyers, 
and  of  poets.1  But  that  of  a  -  — ,  Zoilus,  smells 
worse ! 

XXXI 

CAECILIUS  is  a  very  Atreus  to  gourds  :  he  so  mangles 
them  and  cuts  them  into  a  thousand  pieces,  just  as 
if  they  were  the  sons  of  Thyestes.2  Gourds  you 
will  eat  at  once  even  among. the  hors  d'ceuvre,  gourds 
he  will  bring  you  in  the  first  or  second  course,  these 
in  the  third  course  he  will  set  again  before  you,  out 
of  these  he  will  furnish  later  on  your  dessert.  Out 
of  these  the  baker  makes  insipid  cakes,  and  out  of 

1  From  anxiety  as  to  their  cases  or  poems,  like  the  rei  of 
iv.  iv.  8  ?  2  See  note  to  in.  xlv.  1. 

261 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

hinc  et  multiplices  struit  tabellas 

et  notas  caryotidas  theatris.  10 

hinc  exit  varium  coco  minutal, 

ut  lentem  positam  fabamque  credas  ; 

boletos  imitatur  et  botellos, 

et  caudam  cybii  brevesque  maenas. 

hinc  cellarius  experitur  artes,  15 

ut  condat  vario  vafer  sapore 

in  rutae  folium  Capelliana. 

sic  inplet  gabatas  paropsidesque 

et  leves  scutulas  cavasque  lances. 

hoc  lautum  vocat,  hoc  putat  venustum,         20 

unum  ponere  ferculis  tot  assem. 

XXXII 

NEC  toga  nee  focus  est  nee  tritus  cimice  lectus 

nee  tibi  de  bibula  sarta  palude  teges, 
nee  puer  aut  senior,  nulla  est  ancilla  nee  infans, 

nee  sera  nee  clavis  nee  canis  atque  calix. 
tu  tamen  adfectas,  Nestor,  dici  atque  videri  5 

pauper,  et  in  populo  quaeris  habere  locum, 
mentiris  vanoque  tibi  blandiris  honore. 

non  est  paupertas,  Nestor,  habere  nihil. 

XXXIII 

SAEPIUS  ad  palmam  prasinus  post  fata  Neronis 
pervenit  et  victor  praemia  plura  refert. 

i  nunc,  livor  edax,  die  te  cessisse  Neroni : 
vicit  nimirum  non  Nero,  sed  prasinus. 

1  Possibly  rare  sweetmeats  named  after  a  famous  maker  ; 
cf.  Cosmianum  in  xi.  xv.  6  and  xn.  Iv.  7.     The  cellaring,  by 
the  use  of  various  flavours,  makes  bits  of  gourd  taste  like  the 
famous  Capelliana. 

2  A  play  on  the  two  meanings  of  ponere,  to  serve  up  and  to 
spend. 

262 


BOOK  XI.  XXXI-XXXHI 

these  he  constructs  sweets  of  all  shapes,  and  dates 
such  as  the  theatres  know  well.  From  these  are 
turned  out  the  cook's  various  mincemeats,  so  that 
you  believe  lentils  and  beans  are  set  before  you  ;  he 
imitates  mushrooms  and  black-puddings,  and  tunny's 
tail,  and  tiny  sprats.  On  these  the  store-keeper  tries 
his  art,  with  various  flavours  wrapping  up — cunning 
man  ! — Capellian  sweetmeats  l  in  a  leaf  of  rue.  So 
he  fills  his  platters,  and  side-dishes,  and  polished 
saucers,  and  hollow  plates.  This  he  calls  sumptuous, 
this  he  fancies  elegant — in  so  many  courses  to  lay 
out 2  one  penny  ! 

XXXII 

You  have  neither  toga,  nor  fire,  nor  bug-haunted 
bed,  nor  have  you  a  mat  stitched  of  thirsty  rushes, 
nor  boy,  nor  older  slave;  you  have  no  maid,  nor 
infant,  nor  door-bolt,  nor  key,  nor  dog,  nor  cup.3 
Yet  you  aim,  Nestor,  at  being  called,  and  seeming 
a  poor  man,  and  look  to  having  a  place  among  the 
people.  You  are  a  fraud,  and  flatter  yourself  with 
an  empty  honour.  It  is  not  poverty,  Nestor,  to  have 
nothing  at  all.4 

XXXIII 

OFTENER  after  Nero's5  death  the  green  charioteer 
reaches  the  goal,  and  as  winner  bears  off  more 
prizes.  Go  to  now,  grudging  envy,6  say  you  yielded 
to  Nero !  'Twas  not  Nero,  I  wot,  who  won,  but  the 
Green. 

3  Imitated  from  Cat.  xxiii.  1-2.         4  But  sheer  beggary. 
8  i.e.   Domitian,   the  calvus  Nero  of    Juv.   iv.    38.      He 
favoured  the  green  faction  of  the  charioteers. 
8  i.e.  of  a  rival  charioteer. 

263 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXXIV 

AEDES  emit  Aper  sed  quas  nee  noctua  vellet 
esse  suas ;  adeo  nigra  vetusque  casa  est. 

vicinos  illi  nitidus  Maro  possidet  hortos. 
cenabit  belle,  non  habitabit  Aper. 

XXXV 

IGNOTOS  mihi  cum  voces  trecentos, 
quare  non  veniam  vocatus  ad  te 
miraris  quererisque  litigasque. 
solus  ceno,  Fabulle,  non  libenter. 

XXXVI 

GAIUS  hanc  lucem  gemma  mihi  lulius  alba 

signat,  io,  votis  redditus  ecce  meis  : 
desperasse  iuvat  veluti  iam  rupta  sororum 

fila ;  minus  gaudent  qui  timuere  nihil. 
Hypne,  quid  expectas,  piger?  inmortale  Falernum  5 

funde,  senem  poscunt  talia  vota  cadum  : 
quincunces  et  sex  cyathos  bessemque  bibamus, 

GAIUS  ut  fiat  IULIUS  et  PROCULUS. 

XXXVII 

ZOILE,  quid  tota  gemmam  praecingere  libra 
te  iuvat  et  miserum  perdei'e  sardonycha  ? 

anulus  iste  tuis  fuerat  modo  cruribus  aptus : 
non  eadem  digitis  pond  era  conveniunt. 

1  The  numbers  represent  the  letters  in  the  three  names 
respectively,     cf.  note  to  ix.  xciii.  8. 

264 


BOOK    XI.  xxxiv-xxxvn 

XXXIV 

APER  bought  a  house,  but  one  that  not  even  an 
owl  would  wish  its  own,  so  dark  and  tumbledown  is 
the  cottage.  Next  door  to  him  fashionable  Maro 
owns  gardens.  Aper  will  dine  but  not  lodge  nicely. 

XXXV 

ALTHOUGH  you  invite  three  hundred  guests  un- 
known to  me,  you  wonder  why,  when  invited,  I 
don't  come  to  you,  and  you  complain  and  quarrel 
with  me.  'Tis  no  pleasure  to  me,  Fabullus,  to  dine 
alone. 

XXXVI 

GAIUS  JULIUS  marks  this  day  for  me  with  a  white 
stone :  ho !  see  he  comes,  given  back  to  my  vows  ' 
Glad  am  I  that  I  despaired,  as  though  the  Sisters' 
threads  were  already  snapped  :  they  rejoice  less  who 
have  known  no  fear.  Hypnus,  why  linger,  you  lag- 
gard ?  Pour  the  immortal  Falernian  :  such  vows  as 
mine  call  for  an  olden  jar.  Measures  five  and  six 
and  eight  let  us  drink,  that  the  name  "  Gaius  Julius 
Proculus  "  be  summed  up.1 

XXXVII 

ZOILUS,  why  do  you  like  to  .set  your  jewel  in  a 
whole  pound  of  gold,  and  to  overwhelm  your  un- 
happy sardonyx  ?  That  ring  of  yours  was  lately 
suited  to  your  shanks ; 2  the  same  weight  does  not 
suit  fingers. 

2  Z.  had  been  a  slave,  and  is  now  a  knight :  cf.  in.  xxix. 

265 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

xxxvin 

MULIO  viginti  venit  modo  milibus,  Aule. 
miraris  pretium  tarn  grave  ?    surdus  erat. 

XXXIX 

CUNARUM  fueras  motor,  Charideme,  mearum 

et  pueri  custos  adsiduusque  comes, 
iam  mihi  nigrescunt  tonsa  sudaria  barba 

et  queritur  labris  puncta  puella  meis ; 
sed  tibi  non  crevi l :  te  noster  vilicus  horret,  5 

te  dispensator,  te  domus  ipsa  pavet. 
ludere  nee  nobis  nee  tu  permittis  amare  ; 

nil  mihi  vis  et  vis  cuncta  licere  tibi. 
corripisj  observas,  quereris,  suspiria  ducis, 

et  vix  a  ferulis  temperat  ira  tua.  10 

si  Tyrios  sumpsi  cultus  unxive  capillos, 

exclamas  "  Numquam  fecerat  ista  pater  "  ; 
et  numeras  nostros  adstricta  fronte  trientes, 

tamquam  de  cella  sit  cadus  ille  tua. 
desine  ;  non  possum  libertum  ferre  Catonem.  15 

esse  virum  iam  me  dicet  arnica  tibi. 


XL 

FORMOSAM  Glyceran  amat  Lupercus 
et  solus  tenet  imperatque  solus, 
quam  toto  sibi  mense  non  fututam 
cum  tristis  quereretur  et  roganti 
causam  reddere  vellet  Aeliano, 
respondit  Glycerae  dolere  dentes. 

1  crevit  Tj8V. 
266 


BOOK    XI.  XXXVIII-XL 

XXXVIII 

A  MULE-DRIVER  was  lately  sold,  Aulus,  for  twenty 
thousand  sesterces.  Do  you  wonder  at  so  heavy  a 
price  ?  He  was  deaf.1 

XXXIX 

You  were  the  rocker  of  my  cradle,  Charidemus, 
and  guardian  of  my  boyhood,  and  my  constant  com- 
panion. By  now  the  napkin  grows  black  from  the  shav- 
ings of  my  beard,  and  my  mistress  complains  of  being 
pricked  by  my  lips.  But  to  you  I  have  not  grown  : 
from  you  my  steward  shrinks,  at  you  my  treasurer, 
at  you  my  very  house  is  in  a  panic  !  You  don't 
allow  me  to  frolic,  nor  do  you  allow  me  to  woo  :  you 
wish  me  to  have  «o  liberty,  and  wish  to  have  all 
liberty  yourself.  You  take  me  up,  watch  me,  grumble, 
heave  sighs,  and  your  wrath  scarce  keeps  your  hand 
off  the  ferule.  If  I  have  put  on  a  purple  dress  or 
anointed  my  hair,  you  cry  out :  "  Never  did  your 
father  do  that  "  ;  and  with  knitted  brow  you  count 
my  cups,  as  if  the  jar  they  came  from  were  one  from 
your  own  cellar.  Desist :  I  cannot  stand  a  freedman 
Cato.  That  I  am  now  a  man  my  mistress  will  inform 
you. 

XL 

LUPERCUS  loves  the  beautiful  Glycera,  and  he  is 
her  sole  possessor  and  her  sole  ct>mmander.  When 
he  was  sadly  regretting  that  for  a  whole  month  he 
had  not  enjoyed  her  favours,  and  wished  to  give  the 
reason  to  Aelianus  who  asked  him,  he  replied  that 
Glycera  had  the  toothache.2 

1  And  so  could  not  hear  the  talk  of  those  in  the  carriage  : 
cf.  xn.  xxiv.  8. 

2  There  appears  to  be  an  obscene  inference  here. 

267 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XLI 

INDULGET  pecori  nimium  dum  pastor  Amyntas 

et  gaudet  fama  luxuriaque  gregis, 
cedentis  oneri  ramos  silvamque  fluentem 

vicit,  concussas  ipse  secutus  opes, 
triste  nemus  dirae  vetuit  superesse  ruinae1 

damnavitque  rogis  noxia  ligna  pater, 
pingues,  Lygde,  sues  habeat  vicinus  lollas  : 

te  satis  est  nobis  adnumerare  pecus. 

XLII 

VIVIDA  cum  poscas  epigrammata,  mortua  ponis 
lemmata,     qui  fieri,  Caeciliane,  potest? 

mella  iubes  Hyblaea  tibi  vel  Hymettia  nasci, 
et  thyma  Cecropiae  Corsica  ponis  api ! 

XLIII 

DEPRENSUM  in  puero  tetricis  me  vocibus,  uxor, 

corripis  et  culum  te  quoque  habere  refers, 
dixit  idem  quotiens  lascivo  luno  Tonanti ! 

ille  tamen  grandi  cum  Ganymede  iacet. 
incurvabat  Hylan  posito  Tirynthius  arcu  : 

tu  Megaran  credis  non  habuisse  natis  ? 
torquebat  Phoebum  Daphne  fugitiva :  sed  illas 

Oebalius  flammas  iussit  abire  puer. 

1  ruinae  de  Rooy,  rapinae  codd. 

1  The  acorns. 
268 


BOOK    XI.  XLI-XLIII 


XLI 

Too  eager  to  indulge  his  charge,  and  proud  of  the 
fame  and  fatness  of  his  herd,  their  keeper  Amyntas 
broke  the  boughs  that  yielded  to  his  weight,  and 
the  down-streaming  foliage,  himself  following  the 
spoil l  he  shook  to  earth.  His  sire  forbade  the  ill- 
omened  tree  survive  such  dread  ruin,  and  condemned 
the  fatal  timber  to  the  funeral  pyre. 

Lygdus,2  let  neighbour  lollas  have  his  swine  fat : 
'tis  enough  for  me  that  you  keep  well  the  reckoning 
of  my  herd. 

XLII 

ALTHOUGH  you  call  for  lively  epigrams  you  set 
lifeless  themes.  How  is  that  possible,  Caecilianus  ? 
You  bid  Hyblan  or  Hymettian  honey  be  made  for 
you,  and  serve  up  to  the  Cecropian  bee  Corsican 
thyme  3 ! 

XLIII 

Tu,  moglie,  con  arrabiate  parole  rimbrotti  me 
sorpreso  con  ragazzo,  ed  adduci  che  anche  tu  hai  il 
culo.  Quante  volte  Giunone  non  disse  lo  stesso  a 
Giove  Tonante !  con  tutto  cio  esso  giace  col  grande 
Ganimede.  Tirinzio,  deposto  1'arco,  incurvava  Ila ; 
credi  tu  che  Megara  non  avesse  natiche  ?  Dafne 
fuggitiva  torrnentava  Febo ;  ma  il  ragazzo  Oebalio 
fece  partire  quelle  fiamme.  Quantunque  Briseide 

2  The  swineherd  of  the  writer,  who  is  warned  not  to  be 
venturesome  like  A.,  but  to  be  content  with  not  losing  the 
swine.     M.  means  that  L.'s  life  is  too  precious  to  be  risked. 

3  Which  produced  the  inferior  honey  of  Corsica  :  cf.  ix. 
xxvi.  4. 

269 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

Briseis  multum  quamvis  aversa  iaceret, 

Aeacidae  projnor  levis  amicus  erat.  10 

parce  tuis  igitur  dare  mascula  nomina  rebus 

teque  puta  cunnos,  uxor,  habere  duos. 


XLIV 

OKBUS  es  et  locuples  et  Bruto  consule  natus  : 

esse  tibi  veras  credis  amicitias  ? 
sunt  verae,  sed  quas  iuvenis,  quas  pauper  habebas. 

qui  novus  est,  mortem  diligit  ille  tuam. 


XLV 

INTRASTI  quotiens  inscriptae  limina  cellae, 

seu  puer  adrisit  sive  puella  tibi, 
contentus  non  es  foribus  veloque  seraque, 

secretumque  iubes  grandius  esse  tibi : 
oblinitur  minimae  si  qua  est  suspicio  rimae 

punctaque  lasciva  quae  terebrantur  acu. 
nemo  est  tarn  teneri  tarn  sollicitique  pudoris 

qui  vel  pedicat,  Canthare,  vel  futuit. 


XLVI 

IAM  nisi  per  somnum  non  arrigis  et  tibi,  Maevi, 
incipit  in  medios  meiere  verpa  pedes, 

truditur  et  digitis  pannucea  mentula  lassis 
nee  levat  extinctum  sollicitata  caput. 

quid  miseros  frustra  cunnos  culosque  lacessis  ? 
summa  petas  :  illic  mentula  vivit  anus. 

1  i.e.  you  are  incredibly  old  :  cf.  x.  xxxix.  1. 
270 


BOOK   XI.  xLin-xLvt 

giaeesse  molto  aversa,  1'imberbe  amico  era  piu  con- 
tiguo  ad  Eacide.  Contieniti  dunque  di  dar  nomi 
mascolini  alle  cose  tue,  ed  immaginati,  O  moglie, 
d'aver  due  c — ni ! 

XLIV 

You  are  childless  and  rich  and  were  born  in  the 
consulship  of  Brutus : l  do  you  imagine  you  have 
true  friendships?  True  friendships  there  are,  but 
those  you  possessed  when  young,  those  when  poor. 
The  new  friend  is  one  who  has  an  affection  for 
your  death. 

XLV 

WHENEVER  you  have  passed  the  threshold  of  a 
placarded  cubicle,  whether  it  be  a  boy  or  a  girl  who 
has  smiled  on  you,  you  are  not  satisfied  with  a  door 
and  a  curtain  and  a  bolt,  and  you  require  that 
greater  secrecy  should  be  provided  for  you.  If 
there  be  any  suspicion  of  the  smallest  chink  it  is 
plastered  up,  as  also  the  eyelets  that  are  bored  by 
a  mischievous  needle.  No  one  is  of  a  modesty  so 
tender  and  so  anxious,  Cantharus,  who  is  either 
a or  a .2 

XLVI 

Di  gia  non  arrigi  che  in  sogno,  ed  il  tuo  pene,  O 
Mevio,  incommincia  pisciarti  fra  i  piedi,  e  la  corrugata 
mentola  e  provocata  dalle  stanche  dita,  ne  sollicitata 
rizza  1'  estinto  capo.  A  che  inutilmente  importuni  i 
poveri  c — ni  e  culi  ?  Va  in  alto :  cola  una  vecchia 
mentola  vive. 

2  i.e.  whose  tastes  are  not  abnormal. 

271 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XLVII 

OMNIA  femineis  quare  dilecta  catervis 

balnea  devitat  Lattara  ?  ne  futuat. 
cur  nee  Pompeia  lentus  spatiatur  in  umbra 

nee  petit  Inachidos  limina  ?  ne  futuat. 
cur  Lacedaemonio  luteum  ceromate  corpus  5 

perfundit  gelida  Virgine  ?  ne  futuat. 
cum  sic  feminei  generis  contagia  vitet, 

cur  lingit  cunnum  Lattara  ?  ne  futuat. 

XLVIII 

Sn.ius  haec  magni  celebrat  monimenta  Maronis, 

iugera  facundi  qui  Ciceronis  habet. 
heredem  dominumque  sui  tumulive  larisve 

non  alium  mallet  nee  Maro  nee  Cicero. 

XLIX        v 

IAM  prope  desertos  cineres  et  sancta  Maronis 
nomina  qui  coleret,  pauper  et  unus  erat. 

1  f  Silius  optataef  succurrere  censuit  umbrae, 
Silius  et 2  vatem,  non  minor  ipse,  colit. 

1  illius,   Lindsay,     orbatae   Ribbeck,  ut  patriae  Postgate, 
o  pittas  Lindsay,  en  tantae  Gilbert,     censuit  umbrae  Heins., 
cenis  ut  diabrae  (vel  diabrae)  y. 

2  filius  ut  Ribbeck.     minor  ipse  colit  Heins. ,  minus  ipse 
tulit  y. 

1  cf.  n.  xiv.  10  ;  xi.  i.  11. 

2  i.e.  of  Isis  :  cf.  ij.  xiV.  7.     This  temple  is  called  by  Juv. 

272 


BOOK   XI.  XLVII-XUX 

XLVII 

WHY  does  Lattara  avoid  all  the  baths  affected  by 
crowds  of  women  ?  that  he  may  not  be  tempted. 
Why  does  he  not  idly  stroll  in  the  shade  of  Pompey's 
Porch,1  nor  resort  to  the  threshold  of  the  daughter 
of  Inachus  ?  2  that  he  may  not  be  tempted.  Why 
does  he  plunge  in  the  cold  Virgin  water  his  body 
yellow  with  Lacedaemonian  ointment?.3  that  he 
may  not  be  tempted.  Seeing  that  he  so  avoids  the 
contagion  of  the  generation  of  women,  why  is  Lattara 
a  woman's ?  That  he  may  not  be  tempted. 

XLVIII 

SILIUS,  who  possesses  the  land  which  was  eloquent 
Cicero's,  honours  this  monument  of  great  Maro.4 
As  heir  and  owner  of  his  tomb  or  dwelling  no  other 
would  either  Maro  or  Cicero  choose. 


XLIX 

To  honour  the  ashes,  now  well-nigh  abandoned, 
and  the  sacred  name  of  Maro  was  there  but  one,5  and 
he  was  poor.  Silius  resolved  to  rescue  the  regretted 
dead  :  and  Silius — no  less  himself  a  poet — honours 
the  bard. 

(vi.   489)   "  Isiacae  nacraria  lenae,"  as  being  the  resort  of 
prostitutes,  *  cf.  vn.  xxxii.  9. 

4  Silius  the  poet,  who  was  a  rich  man  and  possessed  one 
of  Cicero's  villas,  had  bought  the  ground  on  which  Vergil's 
tomb   stood.     Pliny  says  (Ep.   iii.  7)  that  he  kept  Vergil's 
birthday  more  religiously  than  his  own,  and  regarded  his 
tomb  in  the  light  of  a  temple. 

5  t.  e.  the  owner  of  the  ground  before  Silius  bought  it. 

273 

VOL.   II.  T 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 


NULLA  est  hora  tibi  qua  non  me,  Phylli,  furentem 

despolies  :  tanta  calliditate  rapis. 
nunc  plorat  speculo  fallax  ancilla  relicto, 

gemma  vel  a  digito  vel  cadit  aure  lapis ; 
nunc  furtiva  lucri  fieri  bombycina  possunt,  5 

profertur  Cosmi  nunc  mihi  siccus  onyx ;     , 
amphora  nunc  petitur  nigri  cariosa  Falerni, 

expiet  ut  somnos  garrula  saga  tuos ; 
nunc  ut  emam  grandemve  lupum  mullumve  bilibrem, 

indixit  cenam  dives  arnica  tibi.  10 

sit  pudor  et  tandem  veri  respectus  et  aequi : 

nil  tibi,  Phylli,  nego ;  nil  mihi,  Phylli,  nega. 

LI 

TANTA  est  quae  Titio  columna  pendet 

quantam  Lampsaciae  colunt  puellae. 

hie  nullo  comitante  nee  molesto 

thermis  grandibus  et  suis  lavatur. 

anguste  Titius  tamen  lavatur.  5 

LII 

CENABIS  belle,  luli  Cerialis,  apud  me  ; 

condicio  est  melior  si  tibi  nulla,  veni. 
octavam  poteris  servare  ;  lavabimur  una  : 

scis  quam  sint  Stephani  balnea  iuncta  mihi. 


1  cf.  vii.  liv.  4. 

2  See  note  to  xi.  xvi.  3. 


274 


BOOK    XI.  L-LII 


THERE  is  not  an  hour  comes  amiss  to  you,  Phyllis, 
for  plundering  me  in  my  infatuation  :  with  such  cun- 
ning do  you  rob  me.  Now  your  lying  maid  laments 
because  a  mirror  has  been  left  behind,  or  a  jewel 
drops  from  your  finger,  or  a  stone  from  your  ear ;  at 
one  time  silks  lost  by  theft  may  be  a  means  of  profit, 
at  another  there  is  shown  to  me  an  empty  casket 
of  Cosmus'  perfume ;  now  a  crumbling  jar  of  dark 
Falernian  is  asked  for  that  a  chattering  wise-woman 
may  exorcise  your  dreams ; l  now,  to  induce  me  to 
buy,  either  a  huge  bass  or  a  two-pound  mullet,  a  rich 
woman  friend  has  proposed  a  dinner  at  your  house. 
Let  there  be  some  moderation  and  at  length  some 
regard  for  fairness  and  justice.  I  deny  nothing  to 
you,  Phyllis  :  deny  nothing,  Phyllis,  to  me. 


LI 

Si  grande  e  la  colonna  che  pende  a  Tizio  quanto 
quella  che  le  zitelle  Lampsiache2  venerano.  Costui 
senza  compagno  ne  molestato  si  lava  in  ampie  terme 
e  nelle  sue :  con  tutto  ci6  angustamente  Tizio  si 
lava. 

LII 

You  will  dine  nicely,  Julius  Cerialis,  at  my  house  ; 
if  you  have  no  better  engagement,  come.  You  will 
be  able  to  observe  the  eighth  hour;3  we  will  bathe 
together :  you  know  how  near  Stephanus'  baths  are 

3  The  usual  hour  for  dining  in  summer,  the  bath  being 
taken  before  :  cf.  x.  xlviii.  1.  There  were  sundials  at  the 
baths. 

27? 
T    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

prima  tibi  dabitur  ventri  lactuca  movendo  5 

utilis,  et  porris  fila  resecta  suis, 
raox  vetus  et  tenui  maior  cordyla  lacerto, 

sed  quam  cum  rutae  frondibus  ova  tegant ; 
altera  non  derunt  tenui  versata  favilla, 

et  Velabrensi  massa  coacta  foco,  10 

et  quae  Picenum  senserunt  frigus  olivae. 

haec  satis  in  gustu.     cetera  nosse  cupis  ? 
mentiar,  ut  venias  :  pisces,  conchylia,  sumen, 

et  chortis  saturas  atque  paludis  aves, 
quae  nee  Stella  solet  rara  nisi  ponere  cena.  15 

plus  ego  polliceor  :  nil  recitabo  tibi, 
ipse  tuos  nobis  relegas  licet  usque  Gigantas, 

rura  vel  aeterno  proxima  Vergilio. 

LIII 

CLAUDIA  caeruleis  cum  sit  Rufina  Britannis 

edita,  quam  Latiae  pectora  gentis  habet ! 
quale  decus  formae  !     Romanam  credere  matres 

Italides  possunt,  Atthides  esse  suam. 
di  bene  quod  sancto  peperit  fecunda  marito,  5 

quod  sperat  generos  quodque  puella  nurus. 
sic  placeat  superis  ut  coniuge  gaudeat  uno 

et  semper  natis  gaudeat  ilia  tribus. 

LIV 

UNGUENTA  et  casias  et  olentem  funera  murrain 
turaque  de  medio  semicremata  rogo 

,*  Porrum  stctivum  :  cf.  x.  xlviii.  9.          2  cf.  xm.  xxxii. 
276 


BOOK   XI.  LII-LIV 

to  me.  First,  there  will  be  given  you  lettuce  useful 
for  relaxing  the  bowels,  and  shoots  cut  from  their 
parent  leeks  ;  L  then  tunny  salted  and  bigger  than  a 
small  lizard-fish,  and  one  too  which  eggs  will  garnish 
in  leaves  of  rue.  Other  eggs  will  not  be  wanting, 
roasted  in  embers  of  moderate  heat,  and  a  lump  of 
cheese  ripened  over  a  Velabran  hearth,2  and  olives 
that  have  felt  the  Picenian  frost.  These  are  enough 
for  a  whet :  do  you  want  to  know  the  rest  ?  I  will 
deceive  you  to  make  you  come :  fish,  mussels,  sow's 
paps,  and  fat  birds  of  the  poultry -yard  and  the  marsh, 
which  even  Stella  is  not  used  to  serve  except  at  a 
special  dinner.  More  I  promise  you  :  I  will  recite 
nothing  to  you,  even  although  you  yourself  read 
again .  your  "Giants"  straight  through,  or  your 
"  Pastorals "  that  rank  next  to  immortal  Virgil. 

LIII 

THOUGH  Claudia  R,ufina3  has  sprung  from  the  woad- 
stained  Britons,  how  she  possesses  the  feelings  of 
the  Latin  race !  What  grace  of  form  has  she ! 
Mothers  of  Italy  may  deem  her  Roman,  those  of 
Attica  their  own.  May  the  Gods  bless  her  in  that 
she,  a  fertile  wife,  has  borne  children  to  her  constant 
spouse,  in  that  she  hopes,  though  youthful  still,  for 
sons-  and  daughters-in-law.  So  may  it  please  the 
Gods  above  she  should  joy  in  one  mate  alone,  and 
joy  ever  in  three  sons  ! 

LIV 

THE  unguents  and  casia,  and  myrrh  that  smells  of 
funerals,  and  the  frankincense  half-burned  snatched 

8  Probably  the  Claudia  Peregrina  of  iv.  xiii. 

277 


et  quae  de  Stygio  rapuisti  cinnama  lecto, 

inprobe,  de  turpi,  Zoile,  redde  sinu. 
a  pedibus  didicere  manus  peccare  protervae.  5 

non  miror  furem,  qui  fugitivus  eras. 

LV 

HORTATUR  fieri  quod    e  Lupus,  Urbice,  patrem, 

ne  credas ;  nihil  est  quod  minus  ille  velit. 
ars  est  captandi  quod  nolis  velle  videri ; 

ne  facias  optat  quod  rogat  ut  facias, 
dicat  praegnantem  tua  se  Cosconia  tantum  :  5 

pallidior  fiet  iam  pariente  Lupus, 
at  tu  consilio  videaris  ut  usus  amici, 

sic  morere  ut  factum  te  putet  esse  patrem. 

LVI 

QUOD  nimium  mortem,  Chaeremon  Stoice,  laudas, 

vis  animum  mirer  suspiciamque  tuum  ? 
hanc  tibi  virtutem  fracta  facit  urceus  ansa, 

et  tristis  nullo  qui  tepet  igne  focus, 
et  teges  et  cimex  et  nudi  sponda  grabati,  5 

et  brevis  atque  eadem  nocte  dieque  toga, 
o  quam  magnus  homo  es  qui  faece  rubentis  aceti 

et  stipula  et  nigro  pane  carere  potes  ! 
Leuconicis  agedum  tumeat  tibi  culcita  lanis 

constringatque  tuos  purpura  pexa  toros,  10 

dormiat  et  tecum  modo  qui  dum  Caecuba  miscet 

convivas  roseo  torserat  ore  puer : 

278 


BOOK    XI.  UV-LVI 

from  the  midst  of  the  pyre,  and  the  cinnamon  you 
have  snatched  from  the  bier  of  death — these,  rascally 
Zoilus,  surrender  out  of  your  foul  pocket.  'Tis  from 
your  feet  your  froward  hands  have  learned  mis- 
doings :  I  don't  wonder  you  are  a  thief  who  were 
a  runaway  slave. 

LV 

LUPUS  urges  you,  Urbicus,  to  become  a  father : 
don't  believe  him ;  there  is  nothing  he  wishes  less. 
The  art  of  the  legacy-hunter  is  to  seem  to  wish  what 
one  does  not  wish  :  he  prays  you  will  not  do  what  he 
asks  you  to  do.  Let  your  Cosconia  only  say  she  is 
pregnant,  Lupus  will  become  paler  than  a  lady 
already  in  labour.  But  do  you,  by  way  of  seeming 
to  adopt  your  friend's  counsel,  die  in  such  a  way  1 
that  he  may  think  you  have  become  a  father. 

LVI 

BECAUSE  you,  Stoic  Chaeremon,  so  much  praise 
death,  do  you  want  me  to  admire  and  look  up  to 
your  mind  ?  'Tis  a  jug  with  a  broken  handle  that 
creates  this  virtue  of  yours,  and  a  melancholy  hearth 
chill  with  no  fire,  and  a  beggar's  rug,  and  bugs  and 
the  framework  of  a  bare  truckle-bed,  and  a  short  toga, 
your  one  covering  night  and  day  alike.  Oh,  what  a 
great  man  you  are,  who  can  do  without  dregs  of  red 
vinegar  and  straw  and  black  bread  !  Come,  imagine 
your  pillow  swells  with  Leuconian  wool,2  and  that 
close-napped  purple  binds  your  couches,  and  a  boy 
waits  upon  you  who,  while  he  mixed  the  Caecuban 
yesterday,  distracted  your  guests  with  his  rosy  lips ! 

1  i.e.  leave  him  nothing.         *  cf.  xiv.  cli*. 

279 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

o  quam  tu  cupies  ter  vivere  Nestoris  annos 

et  nihil  ex  ulla  perdere  luce  voles  ! 
rebus  in  angustis  facile  est  contemnere  vitam  :         15 

fortiter  ille  facit  qui  miser  esse  potest.     • 

LVII 

Mi  HA  uis  docto  quod  carmina  mitto  Severe, 
ad  cenam  cum  te,  docte  Severe,  vocem  ? 

luppiter  ambrosia  satur  est  et  nectare  vivit ; 
nos  tamen  exta  lovi  cruda  merumque  damus. 

omnia  cum  tibi  sint  dono  concessa  deorum,  5 

si  quod  habes  non  vis,  ergo  quid  accipies  ? 

LVIII 

CUM  me  velle  vides  tentumque,  Telesphore,  sentis, 

magna  rogas  :  puta  me  velle  negare  :  licet  ? 
et  nisi  iuratus  dixi  "Dabo,"  subtrahis  illas, 

permittunt  in  me  quae  tibi  multa,  natis. 
quid  si  me  tonsor,  cum  stricta  novacula  supra  est,     5 

tune  libertatem  divitiasque  roget  ? 
promittam ;  neque  eiiim  rogat  illo  tempore  tonsor, 

latro  rogat ;  res  est  inperiosa  timor  : 
sed  fuerit  curva  cum  tuta  novacula  theca, 

frangam  tonsori  crura  manusque  simul.  10 

at  tibi  nil  faciam,  sed  lota  mentula  laeva 

AaiKo£eiv  cupidae  dicet  avaritiae. 


1  cf.  11.  liii.  a  In  its  regular  sense  of  "poetic." 

'  cf.  xi.  Ixxiii.  4;  ix.  xlii.  1. 


280 


BOOK   XI.  LVI-LVIII 

Oh,  how  you  will  long  to  live  Nestor's  years  thrice 
over,  and  wish  to  lose  no  moment  of  any  day !  In 
narrow  means  'tis  easy  to  despise  life  :  he  acts  the 
strong  man  who  is  wretched  and  can  endure.1 


LVII 

Do  you  wonder  I  send  learned 2  Severus  verse 
when  I  ask  you,  learned  Severus,  to  dinner?  Jupiter 
is  cloyed  with  ambrosia  and  he  lives  on  nectar,  yet 
we  offer  to  Jupiter  raw  entrails  and  new  wine.  As 
by  the  gift  of  the  Gods  all  things  have  been  granted 
to  you,  if  you  do  not  'wish  to  receive  what  you 
possess,  what  then  will  you  accept? 


LVIII 

WHEN  you  see  that  I  am  desirous,  and  perceive 
that  I  am  on  the  stretch,  Telesphorus,  you  ask  a  big 
price.  Imagine  I  wish  to  refuse  it :  can  I  ?  And 
unless  I  swear  when  I  say  "  I  will  give  it,"  you  with- 
draw those  charms  that  give  you  much  licence  with 
me.  What  if  a  barber,  when  his  drawn  razor  is  over 
my  head,  should  then  ask  me  for  his  liberty  and 
for  wealth  ?  I  will  promise  it ;  for  it  is  not  a  barber 
who  asks  on  that  occasion^  a  highwayman  asks ;  a 
thing  imperious  is  fear :  but  when  his  razor  is  safe 
in  its  crooked  case,  I  will  break  the  barber's 
shanks  and  his  hands  to  boot.  To  you,  however,  I 
will  do  nothing  ;  but,  when  it  is  otherwise  sated,3  my 
ardour  will  bid  your  grasping  avarice  to  go  hang.4 

4  The  word  \au«i£ei>>  is  possibly  only  a  coarse  imprecation, 
and  is  not  to  be  taken  literally. 

281 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

LIX 

SENOS  Charinus  omnibus  digitis  gerit 

nee  nocte  ponit  anulos 
nee  cum  lavatur.     causa  quae  sit  quaeritis  ? 

dactyliothecam  non  habet. 


LX 

SIT  Phlogis  an  Chione  Veneri  magis  apta  requiris  ? 

pulchrior  est  Chione  ;  sed  Phlogis  ulcus  habet, 
ulcus  habet  Priami  quod  tendere  possit  alutam 

quodque  senem  Peliaii  non  sinat  esse  senem  ; 
ulcus  habet  quod  habere  suam  vult  quisque  puellam,  5 

quod  sanare  Criton,  non  quod  Hygia  potest. 
at  Chione  non  sen  tit  opus  nee  vocibus  ullis 

adiuvat,  absentem  marmoreamve  putes. 
exorare,  dei,  si  vos  tarn  magna  liceret 

et  bona  velletis  tarn  pretiosa  dare,  10 

hoc  quod  habet  Chione  corpus  faceretis  haberet 

ut  Phlogis,  et  Chione  quod  Phlogis  ulcus  habet. 


LXI 

LINGUA  maritus,  moechus  ore  Nanneius, 
Summemmianis  inquinatior  buccis ; 
quern  cum  fenestra  vidit  a  Suburana  1 
obscena  nudum  Leda,  fornicem  cludit 
mediumque  mavult  basiare  quam  summum  ;       5 

1  Suburana  $-,  suburbana  codd. 

1  i.e.  he  has  merely  hired  them.     T.he  reason  given  is  a 
surprise. 


BOOK   XI.  LIX-LXI 

LIX 

Six  rings  Charinus  wears  on  each  of  his  fingers, 
and  he  does  not  take  them  off  at  night  nor  when  he 
bathes.  Do  you  ask  the  reason  ?  He  has  not  got  a 
ring-case.1 

LX 

Is  Phlogis  or  Chione  the  more  fitted  for  dalliance, 
do  you  ask  ?  More  beautiful  is  Chione,  but  Phlogis 
has  an  itch ;  she  has  an  itch  that  would  rejuvenate 
Priam's  powers  and  would  not  permit  the  aged 
Pylian  a  to  be  aged  ;  she  has  an  itch  that  every  man 
wishes  his  own  mistress  to  have,  one  Criton  can  cure, 
not  Hygeia.3  But  Chione  is  impassive,  nor  does  she 
encourage  you  by  any  wooing  word :  you  would 
fancy  she  were  away  from  you,  or  were  a  marble 
statue.  Ye  Gods,  were  it  permitted  to  prevail  on 
you  to  bestow  so  great  a  gift,  and  were  ye  willing 
to  give  a  blessing  so  precious,  you  would  make 
Phlogis  'to  have  this  body  that  Chione  has  and 
Chione  the  itch  that  Phlogis  has  ! 

LXI 

NANEJO  e  rnarito  colla  lingua,  adultero  colla  bocca, 
piu  sporco  delle  bocche  Summemiane :  il  quale  quando 
I'oscena  Leda  vede  nudo  dalla  Suburana  finestra 
ella  chiude  il  lupanario,  ed  ama  meglio  baciare  al 
mezzo  che  all'  alto ;  il  quale  poco  fa  entrava  per 

2  Nestor,  the  typical  old  man. 

3  i.e.  to  be  cured  by  male,  not  by  female  doctors  :  cf.  XI. 
Ixxi.   9.     Criton   was  a  doctor  of  M.'s  time;  Hygeia,  the 
Goddess  of  Health,  the  daughter  of  Aesculapius,  is  here  put 
for  female  doctors  generally. 

283 


THE  EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

modo  qui  per  omnes  viscerum  tubos  ibat 
et  voce  certa  consciaque  dicebat 
puer  an  puella  matris  esset  in  ventre, 
(gaudete  cunni ;  vestra  namque  res  acta  est) 
arrigere  linguam  non  potest  fututricem.  10 

nam  dum  tumenti  mersus  haeret  in  volva 
et  vagientes  intus  audit  infantes, 
partem  gulosam  solvit  indecens  morbus. 
nee  purus  esse  nunc  potest  nee  inpurus. 

LXII 

LESBIA  se  iurat  gratis  numquam  esse  fututam. 
verum  est.     cum  futui  vult,  numerare  solet. 

LXIII 

SPECTAS  nos,  Philomuse,  cum  lavamur, 

et  quare  mihi  tarn  mutuniati 

sint  leves  pueri  subinde  quaeris. 

dicam  simpliciter  tibi  roganti : 

pedicant,  Philomuse,  curiosos.  5 

LXIV 

NESCIO  tarn  multis  quid  scribas,  Fauste,  puellis  : 
hoc  scio,  quod  scribit  nulla  puella  tibi. 

LXV 

SESCENTI  cenant  a  te,  lustine,  vocati 
lucis  ad  officium  quae  tibi  prima  fuit. 


284 


BOOK   XI.  LXI-LV 

tutti  i  tubi  delle  viscere,  e  con  certa  e  consapevole 
asserzione  diceva  se  era  un  maschio  o  una  femina  nel 
ventre  della  madre  (rallegratevi,  c — ni,  perche  le 
vostre  faccende  sono  finite) ;  non  puo  erigere  1' 
immembratice  lingua.  Imperocche,  mentre  che  sta 
immerso  nella  tumente  volva,  e  dentro  sente  i  vagi- 
enti  bambini,  un'  indecente  morbo  1  struge  la  parte 
golosa :  ne  ora  pu6  esser  puro  ne  impure. 


LXII 

LESBIA  swears  she  has  never  granted  her  favours 
without  a  price.  That  is  true  :  on  those  occasions  she 
is  wont  herself  to  pay  it. 

LXIII 

You  eye  me,  Philomusus,  when  I  bathe,  and  con- 
tinually enquire  why  I  have  with  me  smooth-cheeked 
boys  so  well  developed.  I  will  answer  your  question 
in  plain  terms  :  Philomusus,  they  assault  meddlers. 


LXIV 

I  DON'T  know  what  you  write,  Faustus,  to  so  many 
girls :  this  I  know,  what2  no  girl  writes  to  you. 


LXV 

A  CROWD  of  guests  dine  at  your  invitation,  Justinus, 
to  celebrate  the  day  of  your  birth.     Among  them, 

1  cf.  xi.  Ixxxv.  1.  *  i.e.  "  Come." 

285 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

inter  quos,  memini,  non  ultimus  esse  solebam  ; 

nee  locus  hie  nobis  invidiosus  erat. 
postera  sed  festae  reddis  sollemnia  mensue  :  5 

sescentis  hodie,  eras  mihi  natus  eris. 

LXVI 

Ex  delator  es  et  calumniator, 
et  fraudator  es  et  negotiator, 
et  fellator  es  et  lanista.     miron* 
quare  non  habeas,  Vacerra,  nummos. 

LXVII 

NIL  mihi  das  vivus  ;  dicis  post  fata  daturum. 
si  non  es  stultus,  scis,  Maro,  quid  cupiam. 

LXVIII 

PARVA  rogas  magnos ;  sed  non  dant  haec  quoque 

magni. 
ut  pudeat  levius  te,  Matho,  magna  roga. 

LXIX 

AMPHITHEATHALES  inter  nutrita  magistros 

venatrix,  silvis  aspera,  blanda  domi, 
Lydia  dicebar,  domino  fidissima  Dextro, 

qui  non  Erigones  mallet  habere  canem, 

1  M.  has  been  invited  on  the  morrow  to  the  remnants  of 
to-day's  birthday  feast  to  J.'s  fine  friends.  "To-morrow,"  he 
says,  "  it  will  be  my  turn  to  find  out  that  you  are  a  gentle- 
man." For  this  sense  of  natus,  cf.  iv.  Ixxxiii.  3  ;  vin.  Ix  iv. 
18  ;  and  x.  xxvii.  4. 

286 


BOOK    XI.  LXV-LXI* 

1  recollect,  I  used  not  to  be  the  last,  and  this  place 
was  not  begrudged  me.  But  to-morrow  you  repeat 
the  festive  ceremony :  for  the  crowd  you  are  born 
to-day,  to-morrow  you  shall  be  born  for  me.1 

LXVI 

You  are  an  informer  and  a  backbiter,  and  you  are 
a  cheat  and  a  pimp,  and  you  are  a  foul  rascal  and  a 
master  of  gladiators.  I  wonder  why  you  are  not 
rich,  Vacerra.2 

LXVII 

NOTHING  you  give  me  while  you  are  living :  you 
say  you  will  give  after  your  death.  If  you  are  not 
a  fool  you  know,  Maro,  what  J  desire.3 


LXVIII 

FOR  small  gifts  you  solicit  great  men,  but  not  even 
these  do  your  great  men  give.  That  you  may  be 
the  less  ashamed,  Matho,  solicit  great  gifts. 

LXIX 

REARED  among  the  trainers  of  the  amphitheatre* 
a  hunter,  savage  in  the  woods,  gentle  at  home,  I  was 
called  Lydia,  most  faithful  to  my  master  Dexter, 
who  would  not  have  prized  Erigone's  hound 4  more 

2  See  further  as  to  this  person,  xi.  Ixxvii.  and  xu.  xxxii. 

8  cf.  vin.  xxvii. 

*  Maera,  the  dog  that  showed  to  Erigoue  where  her 
murdered  father  Icarius  lay.  Erigone  became  the  constella- 
tion Virgo  and  Maera  Procyon. 

287 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

nee  qui  Dictaea  Cephalum  de  gente  secutus  5 

luciferae  pariter  venit  ad  astra  deae. 
non  me  longa  dies  nee  inutilis  abstulit  aetas, 

qualia  Dulichio  fata  fuere  cani : 
fulmineo  spumantis  apri  sum  dente  perempta, 

quantus  erat,  Calydon,  aut,  Erymanthe,  tuus.  10 
nee  queror  infernas  quamvis  cito  rapta  sub  umbras. 

non  potui  fato  nobiliore  mori. 

LXX 

VENDERE,  Tucca,  potes  centenis  milibus  emptos  ? 

plorantis  dominos  vendere,  Tucca,  potes  ? 
nee  te  blanditiae,  nee  verba  rudesve  querellae, 

nee  te  dente  tuo  saucia  colla  movent? 
a  facinus  !  tunica  patet  inguen  utrimque  levata,         5 

inspiciturque  tua  mentula  facta  manu. 
si  te  delectat  numerata  pecunia,  vende 

argentum  mensas  murrina  rura  domum ; 
vende  senes  servos,  ignoscent,  vende  paternos ; 

ne  pueros  vendas  omnia  vende  miser.  10 

luxuria  est  emere  hos  (quis  enim  dubitatve  negatve?) 

sed  multo  maior  vendere  luxuria  est. 

LXXI 

HYSTERICAM  vetulo  se  dixerat  esse  marito 
et  queritur  futui  Leda  necesse  sibi ; 

1  Laelaps,  given  to  Procris  by  Diana  and  by  her  to  her 
husband  Cephalus.  When  Cephalus  was  added  to  the  stars 
by  Aurora,  his  hound  followed  him. 

288 


BOOK   Xt.  LXIX-LXXI 

than  me,  nor  the  one  of  Dicte's  breed  that 
followed  Cephalus,1  and  with  him  passed  to  the 
heaven  of  the  goddess,  the  Bringer  of  Light.  Not 
length  of  days  nor  fruitless  age  carried  me  off,  as 
was  the  fate  of  the  Dulichian  hound : 2  I  was  slain 
by  the  lightning  tusk  of  a  foaming  boar,  huge  as  was 
thine,  Calydon,  or,  Erymanthus,  thine.  Yet  I  murmur 
not,  albeit  swiftly  hurried  to  the  Nether  Shades  :  I 
could  not  die  by  nobler  death. 

LXX 

CAN  you  endure  to  sell,  Tucca,  those  you  bought 
for  a  hundred  thousand  sesterces  ?  Can  you  endure, 
Tucca,  to  sell  your  weeping  masters  ?  3  Do  not  their 
caresses,  or  their  prattle  or  artless  plaints,  or  the 
necks  wounded  by  your  tooth,  move  you?  Ah, 
shame  !  Lift  up  the  tunic  of  either,  and  his  naked- 
ness is  seen,  and  there  is  revealed  the  manhood, 
fashioned 4  by  your  hand.  If  money  paid  down  is 
your  attraction,  sell  silver  plate,  tables,  porcelain 
cups,  land,  town-house ;  sell  aged  slaves — they  will 
pardon — sell  paternal  slaves :  to  avoid  selling  your 
boys,  sell,  wretched  man,  everything.  'Twas  extrava- 
gance to  buy  these  boys — for  who  either  doubts  or 
denies  it  ? — but  much  greater  extravagance  is  it  to 
sell  them. 

LXXI 

LYDIA  told  her  aged  husband  that  she  was 
hysterical,  and  regrets  that  intercourse  is  necessary 

2  Argus,  the  hound  of  Ulysses,  that  recognised  him  after 
twenty  years,  and  died  :   Horn.  Od.  xvii.  291-327. 

3  This  word  has  an  indecent  sense :  cf.  xn.  Ixvi.  8. 
*  This  word  is  probably  explained  by  xi.  xxii.  6. 

289 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

sed  flens  atque  gemens  tanti  negat  esse  salutem 
seque  refert  potius  proposuisse  mori. 

vir  rogat  ut  vivat,  virides  nee  deserat  annos, 
et  fieri  quod  iam  non  facit  ipse  sinit. 

protinus  accedunt  medici  medicaeque  recedunt, 
tollunturque  pedes.     o  medicina  gravis  ! 

LXXII 

DRAUCI  Natta  sui  vocat  pipinnam, 
conlatus  cui  Gallus  est  Priapus. 

LXXIII 
VENTURUM  iuras  semper  mihi,  Lygde,  roganti 

constituisque  horam  constituisque  locum, 
cum  frustra  iacui  longa  prurigine  tentus, 

succurrit  pro  te  saepe  sinistra  mihi. 
quid  precer,  o  fallax,  meritis  et  moribus  istis  ? 

umbellam  luscae,  Lygde,  feras  dominae. 

LXXIV 

CURANDUM  penem  commisit  Baccara  Raetus 1 
rivali  medico.     Baccara  Gallus  erit. 

LXXV 

THECA  tectus  ahenea  lavatur 
tecum,  Caelia,  servus ;  ut  quid,  oro, 

Raetua  Schneid. ,  graecus  ft,  vetiis  y. 
290 


BOOK   XI.  LXXI-LXXV 

for  her ;  yet  with  tears  and  groans  she  says  her 
health  is  not  worth  the  sacrifice,  and  declares  she 
would  rather  choose  to  die.  Her  lord  bids  her 
live,  and  not  desert  the  bloom  of  her  years,  and 
he  permits  to  be  done  what  he  cannot  do  himself. 
Immediately  men  doctors  come  in,  and  lady  doctors 
depart,  and  her  feet  are  hoisted.  Oh,  what  stringent 
treatment ! 

LXXII 

NATTA  chiama  pipinna  quella  del  suo  drauco,  alia 
quale  Priapo *  confrontato  e  un  Gallo.2 


LXXIII 

You  always  swear,  Lygdus,  you  will  come  to  me 
when  I  ask  you,  and  you  appoint  the  hour  and  you 
appoint  the  place.  When  I  have  lain  fruitlessly 
racked  with  lingering  desire,  a  substitute  has  often 
come  to  my  rescue.  What  should  be  my  curse,  false 
boy,  one  fitted  to  deserts  and  habits  like  yours  ? 
May  you  carry,  Lygdus,  the  sunshade  of  a  one-eyed 
mistress  ! 

LXXIV 

BACCARA,  a  Rhaetian,  entrusted  the  care  of  his 
person  to  a  doctor,  his  rival  in  love  :  Baccara  will 
now  be  a  Gaul.2 

LXXV 

YOUR  slave  bathes  with  you,  Caelia,  covered  with 
a  sheath  of  brass ;  to  what  end,  I  pray,  seeing  he  is 

1  cf.  vi.  xlix.  2. 

2  i.e.  a  eunuch  :  see  notes  to  i.  xxxv.  15  and  in.  xxiv.  13. 

291 
u  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

non  sit  cum  citharoedus  aut  choraules  ? 

non  vis,  ut  puto,  mentulam  videre. 

quare  cum  populo  lavaris  ergo  ?  5 

omnes  an  tibi  nos  sumus  spadones  ? 

ergo,  ne  videaris  invidere, 

servo,  Caelia,  fibulam  remitte. 

LXXVI 

SOLVERE,  Paete,  decem  tibi  me  sestertia  cogis, 

.  perdiderit  quoniam  Bucco  ducenta  tibi. 
ne  noceant,  oro,  mihi  non  mea  crhnina :  tu  qui 
bis  centena  potes  perdere,  perde  decem. 

LXXVII 

IN  omnibus  Vacerra  quod  conclavibus 
consumit  horas  et  die  toto  sedet, 
cenaturit  Vacerra,  non  cacaturit. 

LXXVIII 

UTERE  femineis  conplexibus,  utere,  Victor, 

ignotumque  sibi  mentula  discat  opus, 
flammea  texuntur  sponsae,  iam  virgo  paratur, 

tondebit  pueros  iam  nova  nupta  tuos. 
pedicare  semel  cupido  dabit  ilia  marito,  5 

dum  metuit  teli  vulnera  prima  novi : 
saepius  hoc  fieri  nutrix  materque  vetabunt 

et  dicent :  "  Uxor,  non  puer,  ista  tibi  est." 
heu  quantos  aestus,  quantos  patiere  labores, 

si  fuerit  cunnus  res  peregrina  tibi !  10 

ergo  Suburanae  tironem  trade  magistrae. 

ilia  virum  faciet ;  non  bene  virgo  docet. 

1  cf.  vn.  Ixxxii.  1  ;  xiv.  ccxv. 
292 


BOOK    XI.  LXXV-LXXVIII 

no  harper  or  flutist  in  the  chorus  ? l  You  don't  wish, 
as  I  suppose,  to  see  his  nakedness.  Why,  then,  do 
you  bathe  with  the  crowd  ?  Are  all  of  us  eunuchs 
to  you  ?  Therefore,  that  you  may  not  appear  to  be 
jealous,  undo,  Caelia,  your  slave's  fibula. 

LXXVI 

You  compel  me,'Paetus,  to  pay  you  ten  thousand 
sesterces  because  Bucco  has  lost  you  your  two  hun- 
dred thousand.  Don't  let  offences  not  mine  injure 
me,  I  pray  :  do  you,  who  can  endure  to  lose  two 
hundred,  lose  ten. 

LXXVI  I 

VACERRA  dallies  for  hours,  and  sits  a  whole  day  in 
all  the  closets.  Vacerra  wishes  to  dine,  not  to  dis- 
embogue.2 

LXXVIII 

FA  uso,  fa  uso  dei  feminei  amplessi,  O  Vittore,  e 
la  mentola  impari  1'opra  ad  essa  ignota.  II  velo  e 
tessuto  per  la  sposa,  di  gia  la  vergine  e  preparata,  di 
gia  la  nuova  maritata  tosera 3  i  tuoi  i-agazzi.  Essa 
dara  una  volta  da  pedicare  all'  avido  marito  mentre 
teme  le  prime  ferite  della  nuova  lancia ;  la  nutrice 
e  la  madre  vieteranno  che  cio  si  facia  troppo  sovente, 
e  diranno  "questa  ti  e  moglie,  non  ragazzo."  Oh, 
quanti  furori  e  quanti  stenti  se  il  c — no  sara  a  te 
cosa  insolita !  Dunque  consegnati  qual  novizio  ad 
una  Suburana  maestra.  Quella  ti  fara  uomo ;  una 
vergine  insegna  cio  malamente. 

'2  He  hopes  to  meet  some  acquaintance  and  to  get  an 
invitation.  3  Youths  of  that  character  wore  long  hair. 

293 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXIX 

AD  primum  decuma  lapidem  quod  venimus  hora, 

arguimur  lentae  crimine  pigritiae. 
non  est  ista  viae,  non  est  mea,  sed  tua  culpa  est, 

misisti  mulas  qui  mihi,  Paete,  tuas. 

LXXX 

LITUS  beatae  Veneris  aureum  Baias, 
Baias  superbae  blanda  dona  Naturae, 
ut  mille  laudem,  Flacce,  versibus  Baias, 
laudabo  digne  non  satis  tamen  Baias.       * 
sed  Martialem  malo,  Flacce,  quam  Baias.  5 

optare  utrumque  pariter  inprobi  votum  est. 
quod  si  deorum  munere  hoc  tibi l  detur, 
quid  gaudiorum  est  Martialis  et  Baiae ! 

LXXXI 

CUM  sene  communem  vexat  spado  Dindymus  Aeglen 

et  iacet  in  medio  sicca  puella  toro. 
viribus  hie,  operi  non  est  hie  utilis  annis : 

ergo  sine  effectu  prurit  utrique  labor, 
supplex  ilia  rogat  pro  se  miserisque  duobus,  5 

hunc  iuvenem  facias,  hunc,  Cytherea,  virum. 

LXXXII 

A  SINUESSANIS  conviva  Philostratus  undis 
conductum  repetens  nocte  iubente  larem 

1  tibi.     tame.n  Munro. 


1  M.  has  arrived  an  hour  late  for  dinner  :  cf.  iv.  viii.  6. 
a  Taking  this  view  tibi  can  have  no  meaning,  so  I  have 


294 


BOOK    XI.  LXXIX-LXXXII 

LXXIX 

BECAUSE  I  have  reached  the  first  milestone  at  the 
tenth  hour  I  am  convicted  on  a  charge  of  tardiness 
and  sloth.1  It  is  not  the  fault  of  the  road  ;  it  is  not 
mine,  but  yours,  who  sent  me  your  mules,  Paetus. 

LXXX 

BAIAE,  the  golden  shore  of  blessed  Venus ;  Baiae, 
the  witching  gift  of  proud  Nature  ! — though  in  a 
thousand  verses,  Flaccus,  I  were  to  laud  Baiae,  yet 
I  shall  not  laud  Baiae  as  it  deserves.  But  I  prefer 
Martial,  Flaccus,  to  Baiae  :  to  ask  for  both  at  once 
were  a  presumptuous  prayer.  Yet  if  by  heaven's 
bounty  this  could  still  be  granted,  what  wealth  of  joy 
— Martial  and  Baiae  too  !  2 

LXXXI 

L'EUNUCO  Dindimo  vessa  Egle  in  comune  con  un 
vecchio,  e  la  giovane  giace  asciutta  in  mezzo  al  letto. 
Quello  non  ha  vigore  all'  opra,  questo  e  inutili  per 
gli  anni ;  perci6  gli  sforzi  dell'  uno  e  dell'  altro  in- 
citano  senza  effetto.  Essa  supplichevole  prega  per 
se  e  per  i  due  sfortunati  che  tu,  O  Citerea,  renda 
questo  giovane,  e  quello  uomo. 

LXXXII 

PHILOSTRATUS,  returning  from  a  party  at  the  baths 
of  Sinuessa  to  his  hired  house  at  the  bidding  of 

rendered  Munro's  tamen.  Some,  however,  take  "Martialis" 
as  meaning  the  poe.t,  in  which  case  "tibi"  means  Flaccus, 
and  the  last  lines  of  the  epigram  are  self-depreciatory. 

295 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

paene  imitatus  obit  saevis  Elpenora  fatis, 
praeceps  per  longos  dum  ruit  usque  gradus. 

non  esset,  Nymphae,  tarn  magna  pericula  passus 
si  potius  vestras  ille  bibisset  aquas. 


NEMO  habitat  gratis  nisi  dives  et  orbus  apud  te. 
nemo  domum  pluris,  Sosibiane,  locat. 

LXXXIV 

Qui  nondum  Stygias  descendere  quaerit  ad  umbras 

tonsorem  fugiat,  si  sapit,  Antiochum. 
alba  minus  saevis  lacerantur  bracchia  cultris, 

cum  furit  ad  Phrygios  enthea  turba  modos  ; 
'mitior  inplicitas  Alcon  secat  enterocelas  5 

fractaque  fabrili  dedolat  ossa  manu. 
tondeat  hie  inopes  Cynicos  et  Stoica  menta 

collaque  pulverea  nudet  equina  iuba. 
hie  miserum  Scythica  sub  rupe  Promethea  radat, 

carnificem  duro  pectore  poscet  avem ;  10 

ad  matrem  fugiet  Pentheus,  ad  Maenadas  Orpheus, 

Antiochi  tantum  barbara  tela  sonent. 
haec  quaecumque  meo  numeratis  stigmata  mento, 

in  vetuli  pyctae  qualia  fronte  sedent, 

1  The  companion  of  Ulysses,  who,  awaking  suddenly  from 
a  drunken  sleep  in  the  house  of  Circe,  fell  from  the  roof : 
Horn.  Od.  x.  552  seqq. 

2  And  not  wine.     Moreover,  the  waters  of  Sinuessa  were 
medicinal :  cf.  xi.  vii.  12. 

3  The  votaries  of  Cybele. 

296 


BOOK   XI.  LXXXII-LXXXIV 

night,  nearly  copied  Elpenor,1  and  died  by  a  cruel 
death  while  he  was  hurrying  headlong  down  a  long 
flight  of  steps.  He  would  not  have  incurred  such 
great  danger,  ye  Nymphs,  if  he  had  drunk  your 
waters  instead.2 

LXXXIII 

NOBODY  lives  scot-free  with  you,  unless  he  be  rich 
and  childless.  Nobody,  Sosibianus,  lets  his  house  on 
better  terms. 

LXXXIV 

HE  who  desires  not  yet  to  go  down  to  Stygian 
shades,  let  him,  if  he  be  wise,  avoid  barber  Antiochus. 
White  arms  are  mangled  with  knives  less  cruel  when 
the  frenzied  throng  3  raves  to  Phrygian  strains ;  with 
gentler  touch  Alcon 4  cuts  the  knotted  hernia,  and 
lops  away  broken  bones  with  a  workman's  hand. 
Shearer  let  this  man  be  of  starveling  Cynics  and  of 
Stoic  chins,  and  let  him  bare  the  necks  of  steeds  of 
their  dusty  manes.  Let  this  man  but  rasp  hapless 
Prometheus  neath  the  Scythian  crag,  with  bared 
breast  will  he  summon  the  bird  his  torturer ; 5  to 
his  mother  will  Pentheus  fly ;  to  the  Maenads  Or- 
pheus,6 at  the  mere  clash  of  Antiochus'  savage  steel. 
These  scars,  whate'er  they  are  thou  numberest  on 
my  chin,  scars  such  as  are  fixed  on  some  time-worn 

4  A  surgeon  of  the  day  :  cf.  vi.  Ixx.  6. 

5  The   eagle  preyed   upon   his  liver,   which    was    always 
renewed. 

6  Pentlieus,  king  of  Thebes,  for  his  hostility  to  the  rites  of 
Bacchus,  was  torn  to  pieces  by  his  mother  and  other  Maenads ; 
and  Orpheus  was  similarly  treated  by  the  Thracian  women 
because  he  slighted  them. 

297 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

non  iracundis  fecit  gravis  unguibus  uxor :  15 

Antiochi  ferrum  est  et  scelerata  manus. 

unus  de  cunctis  animalibus  hircus  habet  cor  : 
barbatus  vivit  ne  ferat  Antiochum. 

LXXXV 

SIDERE  percussa  est  subito  tibi,  Zoile,  lingua, 
dum  lingis.     certe,  Zoile,  nunc  futues. 

LXXXVI 

LENIAT  ut  fauces  medicus,  quas  aspera  vexat 

adsidue  tussis,  Parthenopaee,  tibi, 
mella  dari  nucleosque  iubet  dulcesque  placentas 

et  quidquid  pueros-  non  sinit  esse  truces, 
at  tu  non  cessas  totis  tussire  diebus.  £ 

non  est  haec  tussis,  Parthenopaee,  gula  est. 

LXXXVII 

DIVES  eras  quondam  :  sed  tune  pedico  fuisti 

et  tibi  nulla  diu  femina  nota  fuit. 
nunc  sectaris  anus,     o  quantum  cogit  egestas  ! 

ilia  fututorem  te,  Charideme,  facit. 

LXXXVIII 

MULTIS  iam,  Lupe,  posse  se  diebus 
pedicare  negat  Charisianus. 
causam  cum  modo  quaererent  sodales, 
ventrem  dixit  habere  se  solutum. 

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BOOK    XL  LXXXIV-LXXXVIII 

boxer's  face — these  a  wife,  formidable  with  wrathful 
talons,  wrought  not :  'tis  Antiochus'  steel  and  hand 
accursed.  Alone  among  all  beasts  the  he-goat  has 
sense :  bearded  he  lives  to  escape  Antiochus. 

LXXXV 

IMPROVISAMENTE,  O  Zoilo,  t'e  da  un  contagio1  per- 
cossa  la  lingua  mentre  lingi  il  c — no.  Almeno  ora, 
O  Zoilo,  immembrerai. 

LXXXVI 

To  soothe  your  throat,  which  a  .racking  cough 
incessantly  afflicts,  Parthenopaeus,  your  doctor  pre- 
scribes honey,  and  nuts,  and  sweet  cakes,  and  what- 
evert  thing  stops  the  fractiousness  of  boys.  Yet  all 
and  every  day  you  don't  cease  coughing.  This  is  no 
cough,  Parthenopaeus  :  it  is  gluttony.2 

LXXXVII 

You  were  once  rich,  but  then  young  men  were 
your  favourites,  and  for  long  no  woman  was  known 
to  you.  Now  you  run  after  old  crones.  Oh,  how 
compelling  is  poverty !  It  turns  you,  Charidemus, 
into  a  gallant. 

LXXXVIII 

CARISIANO  dice,  O  Lupo,  di  non  poter  pedicare  da 
molti  giorni.  Dimandandogliene  poco  fa  i  compagni 
la  cagione,  disse  che  aveva  la  diarrea.3 

1  i.e.  planet-struck.  This  was  called  sideratio  :  Plin.  N.H. 
ii.  41  ;  Petr.  2.  cf.  vn.  xcii.  9.  *  cf.  II.  xl. 

3  Thus  betraying  the  fact  that  he  was  a  pathic. 

299 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXXIX 

INTACTAS  quare  mittis  mihi,  Polla,  coronas  ? 
vexatas  a  te  malo  tenere  rosas. 

xc 

CARMINA  nulla  probas  molli  quae  limite  currunt, 

sed  quae  per  salebras  altaque  saxa  cadunt, 
et  tibi  Maeonio  quoque  carmine  maius  habetur, 

"  Lucili  columella  hie  situ'  Metrophanes  "  ; 
attonitusque  legis  "terrai  frugiferai,"  5 

Accius  et  quidquid  Pacuviusque  vomunt. 
vis  imiter  veteres,  Chrestille,  tuosque  poetas  ? 

dispeream  ni  scis  mentula  quid  sapiat. 

XCI 

AEOLIDOS  Canace  iacet  hoc  tumulata  sepulchre, 

ultima  cui  parvae  septima  venit  hiemps. 
a  scelus,  a  facinus  !  properas  qui  flere,  viator, 

non  licet  hie  vitae  de  brevitate  queri : 
tristius  est  leto  leti  genus  :  horrida  vultus  5 

apstulit  et  tenero  sedit  in  ore  lues, 
ipsaque  crudeles  ederunt  oscula  morbi 

nee  data  sunt  nigris  tota  label  la  rogis. 

1  "  Tenfold  the  length  of  this  terrene." — MILTON.     Terrai 
filius  is  found  in  Ennius. 

300 


BOOK   XI.  LXXXIX-XCI 

LXXXIX 

WHY  dost  tliou  send  me,  Polla,  chaplets  thou  hast 
not  fingered  ?  Liefer  would  I  handle  roses  tumbled 
by  thee. 

XC 

No  poems  win  your  favour  that  speed  on  a  gentle 
path,  only  those  that  fall  over  rough  places  and  high 
cliffs,  and  this  appears  to  you  ftner  even  than 
Homer's  song  : 

"  Pillar  of  Lucilius'  house,  here  lieth  Metrophanes." 

And  in  amazed  wonder  you  read  of  the  "frugiferous 
terrene," 1  and  whatever  phrase  Accius  and  Pacu- 
vius  spew.2  Do  you  want  me,  Chrestillus,  to  copy 
the  old  poets,  your  poets  ?  May  I  die,  but  you  ap- 
preciate the  flavour  of  virility  !  8 

XCI 

AEOUS'  child,  Cajiace,  lies  buried  in  this  tomb, 
little  Canace,  whose  seventh -winter  came  Iier  last. 
Ah  !  for  Ihe  guilt,  the  crime  !  Thou,  wayfarer,  who 
art  quick  to  weep,  here  mayst  thou  not  lament  the 
shortness  of  life :  sadder  than  death  is  death's  guise  ; 
a  dire  canker  wasted  her  face,  and  settled  on  her 
tender  mouth,  and  her  very  kisses  the  cruel  scourge 
consumed  ;  not  whole  were  her  lips  surrendered  to 

2  Old   Roman   tragic    poets.      L.    Accius    died    B.C.    180, 
M.    Pacuvius  about   131.     Only   fragments   of  their  works 
remain.     As  to  the  preference  for  ancient  poets  in  Horace's 
time  :  cf.  Ep.  n.  i.  49  seq. 

3  i.e.  (ace.  to  Housman)  a'  virile  style  ;  or  (in  another  sense) 
"fellator  es." 

301 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

si  tarn  praecipiti  fuerant  ventura  volatu, 

debuerant  alia  fata  venire  via.  10 

sed  mors  vocis  iter  properavit  cludere  blandae, 
ne  posset  duras  flectere  lingua  deas. 

XCII 

MENTITUR  qui  te  vitiosum,  Zoile,  dicit. 
non  vitiosus  homo  es,  Zoile,  sed  vitium. 

XCIII 

PIERIOS  vatis  Theodori  flamma  penates 

abstulit.     hoc  Musis  et  tibi,  Phoebe,  placet  ? 
o  scelus,  o  magnum  facinus  crimenque  deorum, 
non  arsit  pariter  quod  domus  et  dominus ! 

t 
XCIV 

QUOD  nknium  lives  nostris  et  ubique  libellis 

detrahis,  ignosco  :  verpe  poeta,  sapis.        . 
hoc  quoque  non  euro,  quod  cum  mea  carmina  carpas, 

conpilas  :  et  sic,  verpe  poeta,  sapis. 
illud  me  cruciat,  Solymis  quod  natus  in  ipsis  5 

pedicas  puerum,  verpe  poeta,  meum. 
ecce  negas  iurasque  mihi  per  templa  Tonantis. 

non  credo  :  iura,  verpe,  per  Anchialum. 

1  Supposed  to  represent  the  ejaculation  "as  the  Lord 
liveth  "  in  Hebrew,  and  mistaken  by  Romans  for  the  name 
of  a  deity.  Another  explanation  (out  of  many)  is  that 

302 


BOOK    XL  xci-xciv 

the  smoky  pyre.  If  it  had  to  come  with  so  mistimed 
a  flight,  fate  should  have  come  by  other  path.  But 
death  hasted  to  close  the  channel  of  her  winsome 
speech,  lest  her  tongue  might  have  power  to  bend 
the  hard  goddesses. 

XCII 

HE  lies  who  says  you  are  vicious,  Zoilus :  you  are 
not  a  vicious  man,  Zoilus,  but  vice. 


XCIII 

THE  poetic  abode  of  bard  Theodorus  a  fire  has 
destroyed.  Does  this  please  you,  ye  Muses,  and 
you,  Phoebus  ?  Oh,  what  guilt,  oh,  what  a  huge 
crime  and  scandal  of  the  gods  is  here !  House  and 
master  did  not  burn  together  ! 

XCIV 

YOUR  overflowing  malice,  and  your  detraction  every- 
where of  my  books,  I  pardon  :  circumcised  poet,  you 
are  wise !  This,  too,  I  disregard,  that  when  you  carp 
at  my  poems  you  plunder  them  :  so,  too,  circumcised 
poet,  you  are  wise !  What  tortures  me  is  this,  that 
you,  circumcised  poet,  although  born  in  the  very 
midst  of  Solyma,  corrupt  my  boy.  There !  you 
deny  it,  and  swear  to  me  by  the  Thunderer's  Temple. 
I  don't  believe  you :  swear,  circumcised  one,  by 
Anchialus.1 

Anchialus  is  the  name  of  M.'s  boy,  and  the  name  is  common 
in  inscriptions  of  slaves  and  freedmen.  Friedlander  considers 
it  the  name  of  some  Rothschild  of  Jerusalem. 

3°3 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XCV 

INCIDERIS  quotiens  in  basia  fellatorum, 
in  solium  puta  te  mergere,  Flacce,  caput. 


XCVI 

MARCIA,    non     Rhenus,    salit    hie,    Germane :  quid 
bbstas 

et  puerum  prohibes  divitis  imbre  lacus  ? 
barbare,  non  debet,  summoto  cive,  ministro 

captivam  victrix  unda  levare  sitim. 


XCVII 

UNA  nocte  quater  possum  :  sed  quattuor  annis 
si  possum,  peream,  te,  Telesilla,  semel. 


XCVIII 

EFFUGERE  non  est,  Flacce,  basiatores. 

instant,  morantur,  persecuntur,  occurrunt 

et  hinc  et  illinc,  usquequaque,  quacumque. 

non  ulcus  acre  pusulaeve  lucentes, 

nee  triste  mentum  sordidique  Hellenes,  5 

nee  labra  pingui  delibuta  cerato, 

nee  congelati  gutta  proderit  nasi. 

et  aestuantem  basiant  et  algentem, 

1  Made   foul   by  bathers  of   impure   habits  :    cf.    11.  xlii. ; 
vi.  Ixxxi. 

2  A  German  slave  had  prevented  a  freeborn  Roman  boy 
from  drinking  of  a  reservoir  fed  by  the  aqua  Marcia.' 

3°4 


BOOK    XI.  xcv-xcvm 

XCV 

WHENEVER  you  run  across  the  kisses  of  some 
rascals  think  you  are  plunging  your  head,  Flaccus, 
into  a  bath-tub.1 

XCVI 

Tis  Marcia,  not  Rhine,  that  jets  here,  German ; 
why  withstand  and  elbow  the  boy  from  the  gush 
of  the  precious  pool  ?  Barbarian,  'tis  not  meet  that 
a  citizen  be  thrust  aside,  and  the  victor's  fountain 
slake  a  captive's  thirst. - 

XCVII 

I  CAN  dally  with  four  women  in  a  single  night, 
but  may  I  die  if  I  could  in  four  years  dally  with 
you,  Thelesilla,  once  ! 

XCVIII 

'Tis  impossible,  Flaccus,  to  get  free  from  kissers  ; 3 
they  press  on  you,  stay  you,  follow  you  up,  meet 
you,  and  from  this  side  and  from  that,  no  matter 
when,  wherever.  No  malignant  ulcer  or  inflamed 
pustules,  nor  diseased  chin4  and  dirty  scabs,  nor 
lips  smeared  with  oily  salve,  nor  icicle  on  a  frozen 
nose,  will  protect  you.  They  kiss  you  both  when 
you  are  hot  and  when  you  are  cold,  and  when 

1  See  on  the  same  subject  vu.  xcv.  and  xn.  lix. 

4  An  allusion  to  the  mentagra,  a  skin  disease  attacking 
first  the  chin,  and  propagated  by  kissing  :  cf.  Pliny,  N.  H. 
xxvi.  2,  3.  It  was  brought  to  Rome  from  Asia  in  Tiberius' 
reign.  Pliny  says  that  women,  and  slaves,  and  the  plebs 
were  immune. 

3°5 
VOL.  II.  X 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

et  nuptiale  basium  reservantem. 

non  te  cucullis  adseret  caput  tectum,  10 

lectica  nee  te  tuta  pelle  veloque, 

nee  vindicabit  sella  saepius  clusa  : 

rinias  per  omnis  basiator  intrabit. 

non  consulates  ipse,  non  tribunatus 

senive  fasces  nee  superba  clamosi  15 

lictoris  abiget  virga  basiatorem  : 

sedeas  in  alto  tu  licet  tribunali 

et  e  curuli  iura  gentibus  reddas, 

ascendet  ilia  basiator  atque  ilia. 

febricitantem  basiabit  et  flentem,  20 

dabit  oscitanti  basium  natantique, 

dabit  cacanti.     remedium  mali  solum  est, 

facias  amicum  basiare  quern  nolis. 

XCIX 

DE  cathedra  quotiens  surgis  (iam  saepe  notavi), 

pedicant  miserae,  Lesbia,  te  tunicae. 
quas  cum  conata  es  dextra,  conata  sinistra 

vellere,  cum  lacrimis  eximis  et  gemitu  : 
sic  constringuntur  magni  Symplegade  culi  5 

et  nimias  intrant  Cyaneasque  natis. 
emendare  cupis  vitium  def.orme  ?  docebo  : 

Lesbia,  nee  surgas  censeo  nee  sedeas. 


1  The  praetor  was  preceded  by  a  lictor,  or  beadle,  and  by 
six  attendants  carrying  bundles  of  rods  surrounding  an  axe 
(fasces). 


BOOK   XI.  xcvm-xctx 

you  are  keeping  a  kiss  for  your  bride.  A  head 
shrouded  in  a  cowl  will  not  free  you,  nor  a  litter 
defended  with  head  and  curtain ;  nor  will  a  sedan, 
though  oftener  closed,  protect  you :  through  any 
chink  the  kisser  will  enter.  Not  even  the  very 
consul's  office,  not  the  tribunate,  nor  the  six  fasces, 
nor  the  lordly  rod  of  the  clamorous  lictor,1  will  drive 
off  the  kisser :  you  may  be  sitting  on  a  high  tribunal, 
and  from  curule  chair  be  declaring  the  laws  to  the 
nations,  the  kisser  will  climb  up  to  that  place  and  to 
that.  When  you  are  fevered  he  will  kiss  you,  and 
when  you  are  in  tears ;  he  will  give  a  kiss  to  you 
when  you  are  yawning,  and  when  you  are  swim- 
ming ;  he  will  give  it  when  you  are  in  the  Jakes. 
Remedy  for  the  evil  is  this  alone  :  make  a  friend  of 
a  man  you  don't  want  to  kiss.2 


XCIX 

WHENEVER  you  get  up  from  your  chair — I  have 
often  noticed  it  ere  now — your  unhappy  garments, 
Lesbia,  treat  you  indecently.  When  you  attempt 
with  your  rigjit  hand,  attempt  with  your  left,  to 
pluck  them  away,  you  wrench  them  out  with  tears 
and  groans ;  they  are  so  gripped  by  the  straits  of 
your  mighty  rump,  and  enter  a  pass  difficult  and 
Cyanean.3  Do  you  wish  to  cure  this  ugly  defect  ? 
I  will  instruct  you :  Lesbia,  I  advise  you  neither  to 
get  up  nor  to  sit  down  ! 

2  i.e.  who,  if  he  be  really  your  friend,  will  respect  your 
wish  not  to  be  kissed. 

3  The  Symplegades,  or  Cyaneae  rupes,  were  two  rocks  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Bosphorus  that  were  said  to  clash  together 
and  crush  ships  :  cf.  vn.  xix.  3. 

3°7 
x  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

C 

HABERE  amicam  nolo,  Flacce,  subtilem, 

cuius  lacertos  anuli  mei  cingant, 

quae  clune  nudo  radat  et  genu  pungat, 

cui  serra  lurabis,  cuspis  eminet  culo. 

sed  idem  amicam  nolo  mille  librarum.  5 

carnarius  sum,  pinguarius  non  sum. 

CI 

THAI  DA  tarn  tenuem  potuisti,  Flacce,  videre  ? 
tu,  puto,  quod  non  est,  Flacce,  videre  potes. 

CII 

NON  est  mentitus  qui  te  mihi  dixit  habere 

formosam  carnem,  Lydia,  non  faciem. 
est  ita,  si  taceas  et  si  tarn  muta  recumbas 

quam  silet  in  cera  vultus  et  in  tabula, 
sed  quotiens  loqueris,  carnem  quoque,  Lydia,  perdis  5 

et  sua  plus  nulli  quam  tibi  lingua  n&cet. 
audiat  aedilis  ne  te  videatque  caveto  : 

portentum  est,  quotiens  coepit  imago  loqui. 

cm 

TANTA  tibi  est  animi  probitas  orisque,  Safroni, 
ut  mirer  fieri  te  potuisse  patrem. 

1  It  was  the  duty  of  the  aedile  to  note  and  report  all 
prodigies,  such  as  a  talking  statue.     M.  means  that  Lydia  is 

308 


BOOK   XL  c-cin 

C 

I  DON'T  wish,  Flaccus,  to  have  a  mistress  who  is 
thin,  whose  arms  my  rings  can  go  round,  who  rasps 
me  with  her  skinny  haunch  and  pricks  me  with  her 
knee,  from  whose  spine  protrudes  a  saw,  from  whose 
latter-end  a  spear.  But  all  the  same  I  reject  d 
mistress  a  thousand  pounds'  weight :  I  am  an  admirer 
of  flesh — of  tallow,  no ! 

CI 

COULD  you  see  Thais  who  is  so  thin,  Flaccus  ? 
You,  I  think,  are  able,  Flaccus,  to  see  what  does 
not  exist. 

CII 

HE  was  not  wrong  who  told  me  that  you  had  a 
beautiful  complexion,  Lydia,  but  no  expression.  'Tis 
so,  should  you  not  speak,  and  should  you  recline  as 
mute  as  a  silent  face  depicted  in  wax  and  in  a  picture. 
But  as  often  as  you  talk  you  ruin,  Lydia,  even  your 
complexion,  and  her  tongue  spoils  no  woman  more 
than  you.  Take  care  the  aedile  does  not  hear  and 
see  you  ! l  It  is  a  portent  whenever  an  image  begins 
to  speak. 

GUI 

SUCH  is  your  modesty  in  mind  and  aspect,  Safro- 
nius,  that  I  wonder  you  have  managed  to  become  a 
father. 

only  a  beautiful  image.     A  similar  idea  is  found  in  a  Greek 
epigram :  Pal.  Aiith.  xi,  420, 

3°9 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CIV 

UXOR,  vade  foras  aut  moribus  utere  nostris  : 

non  sum  ego  nee  Curius  nee  Numa  nee  Tatius. 
me  iucunda  iuvant  tractae  per  pocula  noctes  : 

tu  properas  pota  surgere  tristis  aqua, 
tu  tenebris  gaudes  :  me  ludere  teste  lucerna  5 

et  iuvat  admissa  rumpere  luce  latus. 
fascia  te  tunicaeque  obscuraque  pallia  celant : 

at  mihi  nulla  satis  nuda  puella  iacet. 
basia  me  capiunt  blandas  imitata  columbas  : 

tu  mihi  das  aviae  qualia  mane  soles.  10 

nee  motu  dignaris  opus  iiec  voce  iuvare 

nee  digitis,  tamquam  tura  merumque  pares  : 
masturbabantur  Phrygii  post  ostia  servi, 

Hectoreo  quotiens  sederat  uxor  equo, 
et  quamvis  Ithaco  stertente  pudica  solebat  15 

illic  Penelope  semper  habere  manum. 
pedicare  negas  :  dabat  hoc  Cornelia  Graccho, 

lulia  Poinpeio,  Porcia,  Brute,  tibi ; 
dulcia  Dardanio  nondum  miscente  ministro 

pocula,  luno  fuit  pro  Ganymede  lovi.  20 

si  te  delectat  gravitas,  Lucretia  toto 

sis  licet  usque  die ;  Laida  nocte  volo. 


CV 

MITTEBAS  libram,  quadrantem,  Garrice,  mittis. 
saltern  semissem,  Garrice,  solve  mihi. 

1  Types  of  ancient  Roman  manners. 

2  i.e.  for  purposes  of  a  vow,  or  of  purification  in  a  temple. 
Chastity  on  the  previous  night   (sometimes  for  ten  days  : 
Prop.  in.  xxii.  62)  was  essential  according  to  the  rites  of 

3IO 


BOOK   XI.  tiv-cv 

CIV 

WIFE,  out  of  my  house,  or  conform  to  my  ways ; 
no  Curius  am  I,  or  Numa,  or  Tatius.1  Nights  drawn 
out  by  cheerful  cups  are  my  pleasure :  you  with  a 
sad  air  haste  to  get  up  after  drinking  water.  You 
delight  in  darkness :  it  pleases  me  to  revel,  with 
the  lamp  my  witness,  and  to  strain  my  flanks 
though  I  have  admitted  daylight.  A  breast-band, 
and  a  tunic,  and  opaque  robes  conceal  you ;  but 
for  me  no  girl  lies  naked  enough.  Kisses  that  are 
like  those  of  caressing  doves  attract  me ;  you  give 
me  such  as  you  are  wont  in  the  morning  to  give 
your  grandmother.  Nor  by  gesture,  nor  by  words, 
speech,  or  fingers,  do  you  deign  to  accommodate  me, 
just  as  if  you  were  getting  ready  incense  and  wine.2 
I  Frigii  servi  masturbavano  dietro  le  porte  ogni  volta 
che  la  moglie  sedeva  su  1'Ettoreo  cavallo,  e  Itaco 
quantunque  russante,  la  pudica  Penelope  suoleva  aver 
sempre  cola  la  mano.  Tu  ricusi  pedicare :  Cornelia 
accordava  ci6  a  Gracco,  Giulia  a  Pompeo,  e  Porzia  a 
te,  Bruto  ;  il  Dardanio  ministro  quando  non  mischiava 
i  dolci  bicchieri,  Giunone  era  a  Giove  in  vece  di 
Ganymede.  If  austerity  please  you,  you  may  be 
Lucretia  all  through  the  day  :  Lais  I  wish  for  at 
night. 

CV 

You  used  to  send  me  a  pound's  weight ;  a  quarter, 
Garricus,  you  now  send.  At  least  pay  me  half, 
Garricus.3 

Ceres  (Ov.  Am.  in.  x.  2)  or  of  Isis :   Ov.  Am.  i.  viii.  74  ; 
Tib.  i.  iii.  25. 

3  cf.  x.  Ivii.  M.  humorously  treats  the  present  as  a  debt. 
Moreover  payment  should  be  reduced  gradually  :  cf.  vm. 
Ixxi. 

3" 

• 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CVI 

VIBI  Maxima,  si  vacas  havere, 

hoc  tantum  lege  :  namque  et  occupatus 

et  non  es  nimium  laboriosus. 

transis  hos  quoque  quattuor  ?  sapisti. 


CVII 

EXPLICITUM  nobis  usque  ad  sua  cornua  librum 
et  quasi  perlectum,  Septiciane,  refers. 

omnia  legisti.     credo,  scio,  gaudeo,  verum  est. 
perlegi  libros  sic  ego  quinque  tuos. 


CVIII 

Quamvis  tarn  longo  possis  satur  esse  libello, 
lector,  adhuc  a  me  disticha  pauca  petis. 

sed  Lupus  usuram  puerique  diaria  poscunt. 
lector,  solve,  taces  dissimulasque  ?  vale. 


1  The  cornua  were  the  knobs  at  the  end  of  the  roller 
(umbilicus)  round  which  the  parchment  or  papyrus  was 
wrapped.  The  text  means  "  unrolled  to  the  very  end." 


312 


BOOK   XL  cvi-cvin 

CVI 

VIBIUS  MAXIMUS,  if  you  have  time  for  a  greeting, 
read  this  only ;  for  you  are  both  engaged  and  not 
over-industrious.  Do  you  skip  even  these  four  lines  ? 
You  are  wise. 

CVII 

You  return  me  my  book  unrolled  to  its  very  horns,1 
and  as  if,  Septicianus,  you  had  read  it  through.  "  You 
have  read  it  all."  I  believe  it,  I  know  it,  I  am  glad, 
what  you  say  is  true.  I  have  read  through  your  five 
books  in  the  same  way.2 

CVIII 

ALTHOUGH  with  so  long  a  book  you  may  well  be 
sated,  reader,  you  still  ask  for  a  few  distichs  from 
me.  But  Lupus3  requires  his  interest,  and  my  slaves 
their  rations.  Reader,  pay  me.  Do  you  say  nothing, 
and  pretend  you  don't  understand  ?  Good  bye  ! 

2  i.e..  not  read  it  at  all. 

3  A  moneylender 


313 


BOOK   XII 


VALERIUS   MARTIALIS    FRISCO   suo   SALUTEM 

Scio  me  patrocinium  debere  contumacissimae 
trienni  desidiae  ;  quo  absolvenda  non  esset  inter  illas 
quoque  urbicas  occupationes,  quibus  facilius  con- 
sequimur  ut  molesti  potius  quam  ut  officiosi  esse 
videamur ;  nedum  in  hac  provincial!  solitudine,  ubi 
nisi  etiam  intemperanter  studemus,  et  sine  solacio  et 
sine  excusatione  secessimus.  accipe  ergo  rationem. 
in  qua  hoc  maximum  et  primum  est,  quod  civitatis 
aures  quibus  adsueveram  quaero,  et  videor  mihi  in 
alieno'foro  litigare ;  si  quid  est  enim  quod  in  libellis 
meis  placeat,  dictavit  auditor  :  i  1  lain  iudiciorum  sub- 
tilitatem,  illud  materiarum  ingenium,  bibliothecas 
theatra  convictus,  in  quibus  studere  se  voluptates 
non  sentiunt,  ad  summam  omnium  ilia  quae  delicati 
reliquimus  desideramus  quasi  destituti.  accedit  his 
municipalium  robigo  dentium  et  iudici  loco  livor,  et 
unus  aut  alter  inali,  in  pusillo  loco  multi ;  adversus 
quod  difficile  est  habere  cotidie  bonum  stomachum  ; 


BOOK    XII 


VALERIUS  MARTIALIS  TO  HIS  PRISCUS  SENDS  GREETING 

I  KNOW  that  I  ought  to  offer  some  plea  in  defence  of 
a  most  obstinate  three-years'  indolence  ;  yet  no  such 
plea  could  have  secured  an  acquittal  even  amid  those 
City  pursuits  in  which  we  more  easily  succeed  in 
appearing  troublesome  than  dutiful ; 1  much  less  in 
this  provincial  solitude,  where,  unless  we  study  even 
immoderately,  retirement  is  at  once  without  solace 
and  without  excuse.  Hear,  then,  my  reasons.  Of 
these  this  is  the  most  important  and  first  of  all :  I 
miss  that  audience  of  my  fellow-citizens  to  which  I 
had  grown  accustomed,  and  seem  to  myself  a  pleader 
in  a  strange  court ;  for  whatever  is  popular  in  my 
small  books  my  hearer  inspired.  That  subtlety  of 
judgment,  that  inspiration  of  the  subject,  the  libra- 
ries, theatres,  meeting-places,  where  pleasure  is  a 
student  without  knowing  it — to  sum  up  all,  those 
things  which  fastidiously  I  deserted  I  regret,  like 
one  desolate.  Added  to  this  is  the  back-biting  of 
my  fellow-townsmen,  and  envy  ousting  judgment, 
and  one  or  other  evilly  disposed  persons — a  host 
in  a  tiny  place — a  circumstance  against  which  it  is 

1  The  allusion  ia  to  the  so-called  "duties"  of  a  client 
which  in  reality  bored  the  patron. 


THE   EPfGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

ne  mireris  igitur  abiecta  ab  indignante  quae  a 
gestiente  fieri  solebant.  ne  quid  tamen  et  advenienti 
tibi  ab  urbe  et  exigenti  negarem  (cui  non  refero 
gratiam,  si  tantum  ea  praesto  quae  possum),  inperavi 
mihi  quod  indulgere  consueram,  et  studui  paucissimis 
diebus,  ut  familiarissimas  mihi  aures  tuas  exciperem 
adventoria  sua.  tu  velim  ista,  quae  tajitum  apud  te 
non  periclitantur,  diligenter  aestimare  et  excutere 
non  graveris  ;  et,  quod  tibi  difficillimum  est,  de  nugis 
nostris  iudices  candore  l  seposito  ne  Romam,  si  ita 
decreveris,  non  Hispaniensem  librum  mittamus  sed 
Hispanum. 


RETIA  dum  cessant  latratoresque  Molossi 

et  non  invento  silva  quiescit  apro, 
otia,  Prisce,  brevi  poteris  donare  libello. 

hora  nee  aestiva  est  nee  tibi  tota  perit. 

1  candore  Housman,  nidore  0,  nitore  y,  ninniofavore  Munro. 


1  The  cena  adventoria  was  a  dinner  given  to  one  arriving 
from  abroad.  The  phrase  here  represents  a  book  of  epigrams 
whiqh  was  handed  to  Terentius  Priscus  on  his  arrival  in 
Spain  in  the  winter  of  101,  and  immediately  forwarded  to 
Rpme.  This  book,  having  been  written  paucissimis  diebus, 
is  probably  the  brevis  libellus  of  XII.  i.  3,  and  not  Book  XII. 
as  we  have  it,  which  was  probably  an  enlarged  edition, 
perhaps  compiled  even  after  Martial's  death,  and  which 


BOOK    XII.  i 

difficult  every  day  to  keep  a  good  stomach  ;  do  not 
wonder  therefore  that  occupations  have  been  cast 
aside  in  repugnance  which  I  used  to  follow  with 
ardour.  Yet,  not  to  deny  you  anything  on  your 
arriving  from  the  City  and  claiming  it — and  I  am 
not  shewing  you  any  fitting  thanks  if  I  do  only 
what  I  can — I  have  enjoined  on  myself  a  task  that 
I  used  to  allow  myself  as  a  pleasure,  and  have  de- 
voted a  very  few  days  to  study  that  I  might  greet 
your  ears,  my  most  friendly  hearer,  with  their  due 
feast  of  welcome.1  I  would  wish  you  not  to  think  it 
a  trouble  to  weigh  with  care  and  to  scrutinise  those 
efforts  that  in  your  hands  alone  are  in  no  danger, 
and — what  is  most  difficult  for  you — to  judge  my 
trifling  effusions  with  especial  impartiality,  so  that, 
if  you  decide  it  should  go,  I  may  not  transmit  to 
Rome  a  book,  not  merely  written  in  Spain,  but 
Spanish. 


WHILE  the  nets  are  idle,  and  your  barking  Mo- 
lossian  hounds,  and  the  wood  is  at  rest,  now  you 
have  found  no  boar,  you  will  be  able,  Priscus,  to 
bestow  your  leisure  on  my  small  volume.2  The 
hour  is  neither  summer's  nor  is  it  lost  to  you 
wholly.3 

certainly  contains  epigrams  written  earlier  than    101,  e.g. 
vi.,  viii.,  xi.,  and  xv.     So  Fri«dlander. 

2  Studious  men  used  to  read  or  write  in  the  intervals  of 
the  chase  :  Plin.  Ep.  i.  6  ;  v.  18. 

3  "  It  will  take  you  less  time  to  read,  and  the  time  will  be 
well  spent."     A  Roman  hour,  being  a  twelfth  of  the  time 
between  sunrise  and  sunset,  was  shorter  in  winter. 

3*9 


THE  EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

II 

QUAE  modo  litoreos  ibatis  carmina  Pyrgos, 
ite  Sacra,  iam  non  pulverulenta,  via. 

Ill 

AD  populos  mitti  qui  nuper  ab  urbe  solebas, 

ibis  io  Romam  nunc  peregrine  liber 
auriferi  de  gente  Tagi  tetricique  Salonis, 

dat  patrios  amnes l  quos  mihi  terra  potens. 
non  tamen  hospes  eris  nee  iam  potes  advena  dici      5 

cuius  habet  fratres  tot  domus  alta  Remi. 
iure  tuo  veneranda  novi  pete  limina  templi, 

reddita  Pierio  sunt  ubi  templa  choro. 
vel  si  malueris,  prima  gradiere  Subura  ; 

atria  sunt  illic  consulis  alta  mei  :  10 

laurigeros  habitat  facundus  Stella  penatis, 

clarus  lantheae  Stella  sititor  aquae  ; 
fons  ibi  Castalius  vitreo  torrente  superbit, 

unde  novem  dominas  saepe  bibisse  ferunt : 
ille  dabit  populo  patribusque  equitique  legendum   15 

nee  nimium  siccis  perleget  ipse  genis. 
quid  titulum-  poscis  ?  versus  duo  tresve  legantur, 

clamabunt  omnes  te,  liber,  esse  meum. 
1  amnes  quos  Housman,  nianes  quod  y,  manes  quae  0.  tibi  /3. 

1  The  book  went  by  sea  to  Pyrgi,  an  ancient  town  in 
Etruria  on  the  Via  Aurelia,  about  26  English  miles  N.W.  of 
Rome,  and  was  to  enter  Rome  by  the  Via  Sacra,  which  in 
December  would  not  be  dusty.  The  distich  seems  to  be  a 
fragment. 

320 


BOOK   XII.  ii-iii 

II 

YE  poems  of  mine  that  went  of  late  to  Pyrgi  on 
the  coast,  go  thence  by  the  Sacred  Way  :  it  is  not 
dusty  now.1 

Ill 

You  that  lately  used  to  be  sent  from  the  City  to 
the  provinces,  ho  !  you  will  now  go  to  Rome,  O  foreign 
book,  from  the  people  of  gold-bearing  Tagus  and 
of  rugged  Salo,  native  streams  that  a  great  land 
makes  mine.  Yet  you  will  not  be  a  stranger,  nor  can 
you  now  be  called  a  visitor,  whose  many  brothers  the 
lofty  house  of  Remus  holds.  Of  your  own  right  make 
for  the  reverend  threshold  of  the  new  temple  where 
a  fane  has  been  restored  to  the  Pierian  choir.2  Or, 
if  you  prefer,  you  will  walk  through  the  entrance  to 
the  Subura ;  there  stands  the  high  hall  of  my  consul ; 
eloquent  Stella  inhabits  a  house  crowned  with  bay,3 — 
illustrious  Stella,  who  thirsts  for  the  stream  of  his 
lanthis;4  a  fount  of  Castaly  there  proudly  wells  with 
its  glassy  torrent,  whereof  the  Nine  Dames  oft,  they 
say,  have  drunk.  He  will  give  you  to  people  and 
senate  and  knight  to  be  read,  nor  with  eyes  over- 
tearless  will  he  himself  read  you  through.  Why 
do  you  require  a  title  ?  Let  two  or  three  verses  be 
read  :  all  will  cry  that  you,  O  book,  are  mine. 

2  Either  the  Temple  of  Apollo  on  the  Palatine,  rebuilt  by 
Augustus  (cf.  Hor.  Od.  i.  xxxi),  with  a  portico  attached  and 
library  of  Greek  and  Latin  books  :  Suet.  Aug.  xxix.  ;  or  the 
Temple  of  Augustus,  to  which  was  added  a  library  dedicated 
to  the  Muses,  Mrhich  Domitian  removed  and  Trajan  restored. 

8  Stella  was  consul  A.D.  101. 

4  Stella  had  called  a  spring  in  his  house  after  his  wife 
lanthis  :  cf.  vn.  xv.  1. 

321 

VOL.   II.  Y 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

IV 

QUOD  Flacco  Varioque  fuit  summoque  Maroni 

Maecenas,  atavis  regibus  ortus  eques, 
gentibus  et  populis  hoc  te  mihi,  Prisce  Terenti, 

fama  fuisse  loquax  chartaque  dicet  anus, 
tu  facis  ingenium,  tu,  si  quid  posse  videmur  ;  5 

tu  das  ingenuae  ius  mihi  pigritiae. 


LONGIOR  undecimi  nobis  decimique  libelli 

artatus  labor  est  et  breve  rasit  opus, 
plura  legant  vacui,  quibus  otia  tuta  dedisti : 

haec  lege  tu,  Caesar ;  forsan  et  ilia  leges. 

VI 

CONTIGIT  Ausoniae  procerum  mitissimus  aulae 

Nerva  :  licet  toto  l  nunc  Helicone  frui  : 
recta  Fides,  hilaris  dementia,  cauta  Potestas 

iam  redeunt ;  longi  terga  dedere  Metus. 
hoc  populi  gentesque  tuae,  pia  Roma,  precantur  :     5 

dux  tibi  sit  semper  talis,  et  iste  diu. 
macte  animi,  quern  rarus  habes,  morumque  tuorum, 

quos  Numa,  quos  hilaris  possit  habere  Cato. 
largiri,  praestare,  breves  extendere  census 

et  dare  quae  faciles  vix  tribuere  dei,  10 

1  tuto  Friedl. 

1  A  quotation  from  Hor.  Od.  i.  i.  1. 

2  Horace,  Varius,  and  Virgil. 
322 


BOOK   XII.  iv-vi 

IV 

WHAT  Maecenas,  a  knight  sprung  from  ancestral 
kings,1  was  to  Flaccus  and  Varius  and  illustrious 
Maro,2  this  chattering  fame  and  antique  records 
shall  tell  the  nations  and  provinces,  Priscus  Teren- 
tius,  that  you  were  to  me.  You  create  my  genius, 
you  create  whatever  power  I  seem  to  show ;  you 
give  me  the  free  man's  right  of  idleness. 


THE  too  lengthy  labour  of  my  eleventh  and  tenth 
books  has  been  shortened,  and  has  filed  down  my 
work  to  a  brief  compass.  Let  idle  men,  to  whom  you 
have  given  protected  leisure,  read  a  fuller  number ; 
do  you,  Caesar,  read  these  :  perhaps  you  will  read 
those  too ! 3 

VI 

MILDEST  of  princes,  Nerva 4  has  attained  the 
Ausonian  hall :  we  may  enjoy  now  full  draughts 
of  Helicon.  Steadfast  Honour,  cheerful  Clemency, 
chastened  Power  now  return ;  long  lasting  Terrors 
have  turned  to  flight.  This  prayer  thy  peoples  and 
nations  make,  duteous  Rome — may  thy  Chief  be  ever 
such  as  he,  and  he  abide  long !  Blessings  on  thy 
heart — the  heart  of  few — and  on  thy  manners,  such 
as  a  Numa,  such  as  a  Cato  in  cheerful  mood  might 
possess !  To  be  bounteous,  to  lend  protection,  to 
enlarge  narrow  incomes,  and  to  bestow  gifts  which 
even  the  gracious  gods  have  scarce  given,  is  now 

3  M.  had  published  a  selection  from  Bks.  X.  and  XI.     He 
hopes  Caesar  will  read  the  fuller  work.  » 

*  He  became  Emperor  A.  D.  96. 

323 
Y    2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

nunc  licet  et  fas  est.     sed  tu  sub  principe  duro 
temporibusque  malis  ausus  es  esse  bonus. 

VII 

TOTO  vertice  quot  gerit  capillos 
annos  si  tot  habet  Ligeia,  trima  est. 

VIII 

TERRARUM  dea  gentiumque  Roma, 

cui  par  est  nihil  et  nihil  secundum, 

Traiani  modo  laeta  cum  futures 

tot  per  saecula  conputaret  annos, 

et  fortem  iuvenemque  Martiumque  5 

in  tanto  duce  militem  videret, 

dixit  praeside  gloriosa  tali : 

"  Parthorum  proceres  ducesque  Serum, 

Thraces,  Sauromatae,  Getae,  Britanni, 

possum  ostendere  Caesarem  ;  venite."  10 

"..  *  IX 

PALMA  regit  nostros,  mitissime  Caesar,  Hiberos, 

et  placido  fruitur  Pax  peregrina  iugo. 
ergo  agimus  laeti  tanto  pro  munere  grates  : 

misisti  mores  in  loca  nostra  tuos. 


HABET  Africanus  milieus,  tamen  captat. 
Fortuna  multis  dat  nimis,  satis  nulli. 

1  Under  Domitian. 

2  Nerva's  successor,  A.D.  98,  in  January. 

3  Trajan  was  born  A.D.  52  at  Italica,  near  Seville. 

324 


BOOK   XII.  vi-x 

permitted  and  is  right ;  but  thou,  under  a  hard 
prince  and  in  evil  times,1  didst  have  courage  to  be 
good. 

VII 

IF  Ligeia  has  as  many  years  as  the  number  of  hairs 
she  carries  on  the  whole  of  her  head,  she  is  three 
years  old. 

VIII 

WHAT  time  Rome,  Goddess  of  Earth  and  of  the 
nations,  that  has  no  peer  and  no  second,  was  of  late 
joyfully  counting  Trajan's 2  future  years  through  so 
many  generations,  and  saw  a  soldier  strong,  young, 
and  warlike  in  so  great  a  chief,  glorying  in  such  a 
governor,  she  said  :  "  Ye  rulers  of  the  Parthians  and 
chiefs  of  the  Seres,  Thracians,  Sauromatians,  Getians, 
Britons,  I  can  show  you  a  Caesar :  come." 


IX 

PALMA  governs  our3  native  Iberians,  most  gentle 
Caesar,  and  Peace  beyond  the  sea  enjoys  his  placid 
sway.  Gladly  therefore  we  pay  thee  thanks  for  a 
boon  so  great :  thou  hast  sent  into  our  land  the 
manners  that  are  thine. 

X 

AFRICANUS  possesses  a  hundred  millions,  yet  he 
angles  4  for  more.  Fortune  to  many  gives  too  much, 
enough  to  none. 

4  As  a  captator  or  fortune-hunter  :  cf.  ix.  Ixxx.  viii. ;  xi.  Iv. 

325 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XI 

PARTHENIO  die,  Musa,  tuo  nostroque  salutem  : 

nam  quis  ab  Aonio  largius  amne  bibit  ? 
cuius  Pimpleo  lyra  clarior  exit  ab  antro  ? 

quern  plus  Pierio  de  grege  Phoebus  amat  ? 
et  si  forte  (sed  hoc  vix  est  sperare)  vacabit,  5 

tradat  ut  ipse  duci  carmina  nostra  roga, 
quattuor  et  tantum  timidumque  brevemque  libellum 

commendet  verbis  "  Hunc  tua  Roma  legit." 

XII 

OMNIA  promittis  cum  tota  nocte  bibisti : 
mane  nihil  praestas.     Pollio,  mane  bibe. 

XIII 

GENUS,  Aucte,  lucri  divites  habent  iram  : 
odisse  quam  donare  vilius  constat. 

XIV 

PARCIUS  utaris  moneo  rapiente  veredo, 

Prisce,  nee  in  lepores  tarn  violentus  eas. 
saepe  satislecit  praedae  venator  et  acri 

decidit  excussus  nee  rediturus  equo. 
insidiae  et  campus  habet :  nee  fossa  nee  agger  5 

nee  siiit  saxa  licet,  fallere  plana  solent. 
non  derit  qui  tanta  tibi  spectacula  praestet l 

invidia  fati  sed  leviore  cadat.2 

1  deerunt — praestent  fiy.         2  cadant  /3. 

1  The  Emperor's  secretary  :  cf.  v.  vi.  2  ;  xi.   i.     He  was 
murdered  by  the  Praetorian  guard  in  A.D.  97. 

326 


BOOK    XII.  xi-xiv 

XI 

BEAR  greeting,  Muse,  to  your  Parthenius1  and 
mine ;  for  who  more  fully  drinks  of  the  Aonian 
stream  ?  Whose  lyre  with  clearer  tone  sounds  forth 
from  Pimpla's  grot  ?  Whom  of  the  Pierian  band 
loves  Phoebus  more  ?  And  if  by  chance — yet  can 
I  scarce  so  hope — he  shall  be  at  leisure,  bid  him  offer 
with  his  own  hand  my  verses  to  our  Chief,  and  in 
four  words  only  let  him  commend  my  shrinking  and 
brief  little2  book:  "This  thy  Rome  reads." 

XII 

You  promise  everything  when  you  have  drunk  all 
night :  in  the  morning  you  make  good  no  promise. 
Pollio,  drink  in  the  morning  ! 

XIII 

RICH  men,  Auctus,  regard  anger  as  a  kind  of  profit ; 
to  hate  is  cheaper  than  to  give  ! 3 

XIV 

USE  more  sparingly,  I  warn  you,  Priscus,  your 
tearing  hunter,  nor  rush  so  violently  after  hares. 
Often  has  the  huntsman  atoned  to  his  prey,  and, 
flung  from  his  mettled  horse,  fallen  to  mount  no 
more.  Snares  even  a  plain  has :  though  there  be 
no  ditch,  nor  mound,  nor  stones,  level  ground  can 
oft  deceive.  Never  will  you  lack  some  one  to  offer 
you  such  a  sight,  but  one  whose  fall  brings  lighter 

2  Possibly  the  selection  alluded  to  in  xn.  v. 

3  Picking   quarrels   with   clients   saves  you    giving   them 
presents  :  cf.  in.  xxxvii. 

327 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

si  te  delectant  animosa  pericula,  Tuscis-  ~ 

(tutior  est  virtus)  insidiemur  apris.  •  10 

quid  te  frena  iuvant  temeraria  ?  saepius  illis, 

Prisce,  datum  est  equitem  rumpere  quam  leporem. 


XV 

QUIDQUID  Parrhasia  nitebat  aula 

donatum  est  oculis  deisque  nostris. 

miratur  Scythicas  virentis  auri 

flammas  luppiter  et  stupet  superbi 

regis  delicias  gravesque  luxus :  5 

haec  sunt  pocula  quae  decent  Tonantem, 

haec  sunt  quae  Phrygium  decent  ministrum. 

omnes  cum  love  nunc  sumus  beati ; 

at  nuper  (pudet,  a  pudet  fateri) 

omnes  cum  love  pauperes  eramus.  10 

XVI 

ADDIXTI,  Labiene,  tres  agellos  ; 
emistij  Labiene,  tres  cinaedos. 
pedicas,  Labiene,  tres  agellos. 

XVII 

QUARE  tarn  multis  a  te,  Laetine,  diebus 
non  abeat  febris  quacris  et  usque  gemis. 

gestatur  tecum  pariter  tecumque  lavatur  ; 
cenat  boletos,  ostrea,  sumen,  aprum  ; 

1  The  Palatine  is  called  Parrhasian  because  Evander,  who 
settled  on  the  P.,  came  from  Parrhasia,  a  district  of  Arcadia  : 
cf.  vii.  Ivi.  2  and  xcix.  3. 

328 


BOOK   XII.  xiv-xvn 

reproach  of  fate.  If  perilous  hardihood  delight  you, 
let  us  then — safer  is  such  courage — lay  snares  for 
Tuscan  boars.  Why  does  rash  riding  please  you  ? 
More  often  its  issue,  Priscus,  is  to  break  up  the  rider 
rather  than  the  hare. 

XV 

ALL  that  glittered  in  the  Palatine  l  hall  has  been 
given  to  our  view  and  to  our  gods.2  Jupiter  wonders 
at  the  flashing  of  gold  set  with  Scythian  emeralds, 
and  is  amazed  at  the  toys  and  grievous  luxury  of  a 
haughty  king 3 ;  here  are  cups  that  befit  the  Thun- 
derer, here  are  such  as  befit  his  Phrygian  cupbearer;4 
we  all,  together  with  Jove,  are  now  rich  ;  but  of  late 
—'tis  shame,  ah,  'tis  shame  to  confess  it ! — we  all, 
together  with  Jove,  were  poor. 


XVI 

You  have  sold,  Labienus,  three  pretty  fields ;  you 
have  bought,  Labienus,  three  handsome  slaves.  You 
debauch,  Labienus,  your  three  pretty  fields. 


XVII 

You  ask,  Laetinus,  why,  after  so  many  days,  your 
fever  doesn't  leave  you,  and  you  are  incessantly 
groaning.  It  rides  in  your  litter  with  you,  and  with 
you  it  bathes ;  it  dines  on  mushrooms,  oysters, 

2  Trajan  dedicated  the  Imperial  jewels  to  Jupiter  Capito- 
linus  and  other  gods. 

8  i.e.  Domitian.  M.  chooses  in  "king"  the  term  most 
offensive  to  a  Roman  ear.  *  Ganymede. 

329 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

ebria  Setino  fit  saepe  et  saepe  Falerno  5 

nee  nisi  per  niveam  Caecuba  potat  aquam ; 

circumfusa  rosis  et  nigra  recumbit  amomo, 
dorm  it  et  in  pluma  purpureoque  toro. 

cum  sit  ei  pulchre,  cum  tarn  bene  vivat  apud  te, 
ad  Damam  potius  vis  tua  febris  eat  ?  10 


XVIII 

DUM  tu  forsitan  inquietus  erras 

clamosa,  luvenalis,  in  Subura 

aut  colleni  dominae  teris  Dianae  ; 

dum  per  limina  te  potentiorum 

sudatrix  togav  ventilat  vagumque  5 

maior  Caelius  et  minor  fatigant : 

me  multos  repetita  post  Decembres 

accepit  mea  rusticumque  fecit 

auro  Bilbilis  et  superba  ferro. 

hie  pigri  colimus  labore  dulci  10 

Boterdum  Plateamque  (Celtiberis 

haec  sunt  nomina  crassiora  terris)  : 

ingenti  fruor  inproboque  somno 

quern  nee  tertia  saepe  rumpit  hora, 

et  totum  mihi  nunc  repono  quidquid  15 

ter  denos  vigilaveram  per  annos. 

ignota  est  toga,  sed  datur  petenti 

rupta  proxima  vestis  a  cathedra. 

surgentem  focus  excipit  superba 

vicini  strue  cultus  iliceti,  20 

multa  vilica  quern  coronat  olla. 

venator  sequitur,  sed  ille  quern  tu 


330 


BOOK   XII.  xvii-xvni 

". 

sow's  paps,  boar ;  it  often  gets  drunk  on  Setine,  and 
often  on  Falernian,  and  drinks  Caecuban  only  when 
strained  through  snow-water ;  wreathed  with  roses 
and  dark  with  balsam  it  lies  at  board,  and  it  sleeps 
in  down  and  on  a  purple  bed.  Seeing  it  is  so  well- 
off,  seeing  it  lives  so  comfortably  with  you,  do  you 
wish  your  fever  to  migrate  in  preference  to  Dama  ? l 


XVIII 

WHILE  perchance  you  are  restlessly  wandering, 
Juvenal,  in  the  noisy  Subura,  or  treading  the  hill  of 
Queen  Diana ;  while,  amid  the  thresholds  of  great 
men,  your  sweaty  toga  fans  you,  and,  as  you  stray, 
the  greater  Caelian  and  the  less  2  wearies  you,  me 
my  Bilbilis,  sought  once  more  after  many  Decem- 
bers, has  received  and  made  a  countryman,  Bilbilis, 
proud  of  its  gold  and  iron.  Here  indolently,  with 
pleasant  toil,  I  frequent  Boterdus  and  Platea  (such 
in  Celtiberian  lands  are  the  uncouth  names !) ;  I 
enjov  a  huge  unconscionable  sleep  which  often  not 
even  the  third  hour  breaks,  and  I  pay  myself  now  in 
full  for  all  my  sleeplessness  for  thrice  ten  years. 
Unknown  is  the  toga  ;  rather,  when  I  ask  for  it,  the 
first  covering  at  hand  is  given  to  me  from  a  broken 
chair.  When  I  get  up,  a  fire,  served  with  a  lordly 
heap  of  logs  from  the  neighbouring  oak-wood,  wel- 
comes me,  and  my  bailiff's  wife  crowns  it  with  many 
a  pot.  Next  comes  my  huntsman,  and  he  too  a 

1  A  slave  (cf.  Hor.  Sat.  n.  v.  18),  or'  a  beggar.     A  Greek 
epigram  (Pal.  Anth.  xi.  403),  which  M.  may  have  remembered, 
has  the  same  idea  as  the  last  line  of   this  epigram. 

2  The  Mons  Caelius  properly  consisted  of  the  Caelius  and 
the  Caeliolus,  a  lesser  height. 

331 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

secreta  cupias  habere  silva  : 

dispensat  pueris  rogatque  longos 

levis  ponere  vilicus  capillos.  25 

sic  me  vivere,  sic  iuvat  perire. 

XIX 

IN  thermis  sumit  lactucas,  ova,  lacertum, 
et  cenare  domi  se  negat  Aemilius. 

XX 

QUARE  non  habeat,  Fabulle,  quaeris 
uxorem  Themison  ?  habet  sororem. 

XXI 

MUNICIPEM  rigidi  quis  te,  Marcella,  Salonis 

et  genitam  nostris  quis  putet  esse  locis  ? 
tarn  rarum,  tarn  dulce  sapis.     Palatia  dicent, 

audierint  si  te  vel  semel,  esse  suam  ; 
null  a  nee  in  media  certabit  nata  Subura  5 

nee  Capitolini  collis  alumna  tibi ; 
nee  cito  ridebit :  peregrini  gloria  partus, 

Romanam  deceat  quam  magis  esse  nurum. 
tu  desiderium  dominae  mihi  mitius  urbis 

esse  iubes  :  Romam  tu  mihi  sola  facis.  10 

XXII 

QUAM  sit  lusca  Philaenis  indecenter 
vis  dicam  breviter  tibi,  Fabulle  ? 
esset  caeca  decentior  Philaenis. 

1  ridebit.    parebit  Munro. 

1  cf.  v.  xlvii.  What  he  takes  at  the  baths  is  all  he  will  get. 
332 


BOOK   XII.  xvin-xxii 

youth  whom  you  would  desire  to  consort  with  in 
some  secret  grove.  The  unbearded  bailiff  gives  my 
slaves  their  rations,  and  asks  permission  to  crop  his 
long  hair.  So  I  love  to  live,  so  I  love  to  die. 

XIX 

AT  the  warm  baths  Aemilius  takes  lettuce,  eggs, 
lizard-fish,  and  says  that  he  is  not  dining  at  home  ! l 


Do  you  ask,  Fabullus,  why  Themison  has  not  got 
a  wife  ?  He  has  2  a  sister. 

XXI 

WHO  would  think,  Marcella,3  that  you  were  a 
burgess  of  iron-tempering4  Salo,  who,  that  you 
were  born  in  my  native  land  ?  So  rare,  so  sweet  is 
your  quality !  The  Palatine  will  declare,  should  it 
but  hear  you  once,  that  you  are  its  own ;  nor  will 
a  daughter  of  mid  Subura,  nor  a  nursling  of  the 
Capitoline  hill,  vie  with  you ;  nor  soon  shall  the 
fairest  of  foreign  birth  laugh  at  one  whom  it  would 
more  befit  to  be  a  Roman  bride.  You  bid  my  long- 
ing for  the  Queen  City  be  allayed :  you  by  yourself 
make  a  Rome  for  me  ! 

XXII 

WOULD  you  have  me  say  shortly  how  uncomely 
one-eyed  Philaenis  is,  Fabullus  ?  If  she  were  blind 
Philaenis  would  be  comelier. 

2  Used  ambiguously  in  two  senses.  As  to  one  sense  :  cf. 
Quis  heri  Chryaidem  habuit?  Ter.  And.  85;  and  line  23  of 
Ep.  xviii.  of  this  Book.  So  ex*^  in  Grk. :  Thuc.  vi.  54. 

cf.  Intr.  to  vol.  i.  p.  xi.,  and  xn.  xxxi.       *  cf.  I.  xlix.  12. 

333 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XXIII 

DENTIBUS  atque  comis  (nee  te  pudet)  uteris  emptis. 
quid  facies  oculo,  Laelia  ?  non  emitur. 

XXIV 

O  IUCUNDA,  covinne,  solitude, 

carruca  magis  essedoque  gratum 

facundi  mihi  munus  Aeliani  ! 

hie  mecum  licet,  hie,  lubate,1  quidquid 

in  buccam  tibi  venerit  loquaris.  5 

non  rector  Libyci  niger  caballi 

succinctus  neque  cursor  antecedit ; 

nusquam  est  mulio  :  mannuli  tacebunt. 

o  si  conscius  esset  hie  Avitus, 

aurem  non  ego  tertiam  tirnerem.  10 

totus  quam  bene  sic  dies  abiret ! 

XXV 

CUM  rogo  te  nummos  sine  pignore,  '  Non  habeo' 
inquis ; 

idem,  si  pro  me  spondet  agellus,  habes. 
quod  mihi  non  credis  veteri,  Telesine,  sodali, 

credis  coliculis  arboribusque  meis  ? 
ecce  reum  Carus  te  detulit :  adsit  agellus. 

exilii  comitem  quaeris  :  agellus  eat.  5 

1  lubate  Postgate,  iuvate  codd. 

1  cf.  Pal.  Anth.  xi.  310. 

1  Stertinius  Avitus,  who  had  placed  a  bust  of  M.  in  his 
library  :  cf.  ix.  Intr.  Ep. 

334 


BOOK   XII.  XXIH-XXV 

XXIII 

You  use,  and  you  are  not  ashamed,  teeth  and  hair 
that   you  have  bought.     What  will  you  do    for  an 
'  eye,  Laelia  ?     That  cannot  be  bought.1 

XXIV 

O  THOU  chaise,  that  affordest  pleasant  solitude,  the 
gift  to  me  of  eloquent  Aelianus,  more  grateful  than 
travelling-coach  and  curricle  !  Here  at  my  side,  here 
may  you,  Jubatus,  say  whatever  rises  to  your  lips.  No 
black  driver  of  Libyan  steed,  nor  runner  with  upgirt 
loins  goes  before ;  nowhere  is  any  muleteer ;  the 
nags  will  be  silent.  Oh,  if  Avitus 2  were  here  to 
share  our  secrets,  I  should  dread  no  third  ear !  How 
well  thus  would  a  whole  day  pass ! 

XXV 

WHEN  I  ask  you  for  money  without  security,  "  I 
haven't  any,"  you  say  ;  all  the  same,  if  my  little  farm 
pledge  itself  on  my  behalf,  you  have.  The  credit 
you  will  not  give  me,  your  old  comrade,  Telesinus, 
do  you  give  my  cabbages  and  trees  ?  See,  Carus 3 
has  informed  against  you  :  let  my  little  farm  appear 
for  you  ;  you  ask  for  a  companion  in  exile  : 4  let  my 
little  farm  go  with  you. 

8  Mettius  Carus,  a,  favourite  dwarf  of  Nero's  and  an  in- 
former :  Juv.  i.  36.  The  name  is  here  put  generally  for  an 
informer. 

4  To  follow  a  friend  into  exile  was  the  highest  proof  of 
friendship  :  cf.  vu.  xliv.  and  xlv. 

335 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXVI 

SEXAGENA  teras  cum  limina  mane  senator, 

esse  tibi  videor  desidiosus  eques, 
quod  non  a  prima  discurram  luce  per  urbem 

et  referam  lassus  basia  mille  domum. 
sed  tu,  purpureis  ut  des  nova  nomina  fastis  5 

aut  Nomadum  gentes  Cappadocumve  regas  : 
at  mihi,  quern  cogis  medios  abrumpere  somnos 

et  matutinum  ferre  patique  lutum, 
quid  petitur  ?  rupta  cum  pes  vagus  exit  aluta 

et  subitus  crassae  decidit  imber  aquae  10 

nee  venit  ablatis  clamatus  verna  lacernis, 

accedit  gelidam  servus  ad  auriculam, 
et f  Rogat  ut  secum  cenes  Laetorius  '  inquit. 

viginti  nummis  ?  non  ego  :  malo  famem 
quam  sit  cena  mihi,  tibi  sit  provincia  merces,  15 

et  faciamus  idem  nee  mereamur  idem. 

XXVII 

A  LATRONIBUS  esse  te  fututam 
dicis,  Saenia  :  sed  negant  latrones. 

XXVIII 

POTO  ego  sextantes,  tu  potas,  Cinna,  deunces : 
et  quereris  quod  non,  Cinna,  bibamus  idem  ? 

1  i.e.  become  a  consul.     Consul's  names  were  entered  in 
the  Fasti  in  the  Temple  of  Janus  :  cf.  vm.  Ixvi.  12  ;  xi.  iv.  5. 

2  "Negant  te  impulsam  ab  iis  ;  vel  negant  hoc,  aiuntque 
te  inhonestius  quippiam  passam  esse  ":  cf.  xu.  xxxv. 

336 


BOOK   XII.  xxvi-xxvm 

XXVI 

INASMUCH  as  you,  though  a  senator,  tread  innumer- 
able thresholds  in  the  morning,  I,  a  knight,  appear 
to  you  slothful  because  I  do  not  scour  the  city 
from  early  dawn,  and  wearily  bring  home  with  me 
a  thousand  kisses.  But  you  do  this  that  you  may 
add  a  new  name  to  the  purple  records,1  or  be  sent 
to  govern  Numidian  or  Cappadocian  tribes.  But  I, 
whom  you  compel  to  break  off  my  slumber  in  the 
middle,  and  to  bear  and  endure  the  morning  mud, 
what  do  I  look  for  ?  When  my  protruding  foot  gapes 
out  of  a  broken  shoe,  and  a  sudden  downpour  of 
heavy  rain  falls,  and  my  home-born  slave,  who  has 
taken  away  my  cloak,  does  not  appear  when  I  bawl 
for  him,  a  slave  approaches  my  frozen  ear  and  "  Lae- 
torius  asks  you  to  dine  with  him,"  he  says.  For 
twenty  sesterces  a  head  ?  Not  I :  I  prefer  starva- 
tion to  getting  a  dinner  as  reward,  while  you  get  a 
province,  and  to  our  performing  the  same  services 
and  not  earning  the  same  recompense. 

XXVII 

You  say,  Saenia,  you  were  raped  by  footpads  ;  but 
the  footpads  deny  it.2 

XXVIII 

I  DRINK  cups  containing  two  measures;  you,  Cinna, 
drink  cups  holding  eleven.  And  do  you  then  com- 
plain, Cinna,  that  we  don't  drink  the  same  wine  ?  3 

3  It  was  a  vulgar  habit  of  some  hosts  to  give  their  guests 
inferior  food  or  wine  to  what  the  host  and  his  particular 
friends  ate  or  drank  :  cf.  vi.  xi.  2  ;  Plin.  Ep.  u.  vi.  2.  See 
on  the  subject  generally  Juv.  v.  In  the  epigram  in  the  text 
the  host  excuses  himself :  "You  cannot  expect  the  best  wine 
if  you  drink  so  much."  ,.,* 

VOL.  II.  Z 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXIX 

HERMOGENES  tantus  mapparum,  Pontice,  fur  est 

quantus  nummorum  vix,  puto,  Massa  fuit ; 
tu  licet  observes  dextram  teneasque  sinistram, 

inveniet  mappam  qua  ratione  trahat  : 
cervinus  gelidum  sorbet  sic  halitus  anguem  ;  5 

casuras  alte  sic  rapit  Iris  aquas, 
nuper  cum  Myrino  peteretur  missio  laeso, 

subduxit  mappas  quattuor  Hermogenes  ; 
cretatam  praetor  cum  vellet  mittere  mappam, 

praetori  mappam  surpuit  Hermogenes.  10 

attulerat  mappam  nemo  dum  furta  timentur  ; 

mantele  a  mensa  surpuit  Hermogenes. 
hoc  quoque  si  derit,  medios  discingere  lectos 

mensarumque  pedes  non  timet  Hermogenes. 
quamvis  non  modico  caleant  spectacula  sole,  15 

vela  reducuntur  cum  venit  Hermogenes. 
festinant  trepidi  substringere  carbasa  nautae, 

ad  portum  quotiens  paruit  Hermogenes. 
linigeri  fugiunt  calvi  sistrataque  turba, 

inter  adorantes  cum  stetit  Hermogenes.  20 

ad  cenam  Hermogenes  mappam  non  attulit  umquam, 

a  cena  semper  rettulit  Hermogenes. 


1  Hermes  was  the  thief  among  the  gods  :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  I.  x.  7; 
accordingly  M.  invents  the  name  "Sprung  of  Hermes." 

2  Stealing   napkins   was   common,  and   was   satirised   by 
Catullus  (Cat.  xii.). 

3  Probably  Baebius  Massa,  a  mountebank  of  Nero's  :  Schol. 
on  Juv.  i.  35.     He  was,  on  the  accusation  of  the  younger 
Pliny,  condemned  A.D.  93  for  embezzlement  when  proconsul 
of  Hispania  Baetica. 

*  The  left  was  the  thievish  hand  (Cat.  xlvii.  1  ;  Ov.  Met. 
xiii.  110  (natasque  ad  furta  sinisiras))  ;  hence  M.'s  distinction 
between  watching  and  holding. 

338 


BOOK   XII.  xxix 

XXIX 

HERMOGENEs1  is  as  great  a  thief,  Ponticus,  of  nap- 
kins 2  as  I  hardly  imagine  even  Massa  3  was  of  money. 
You  may  watch  his  right  hand  and  hold  his  left,4  he 
will  discover  some  method  of  withdrawing  a  napkin. 
So  a  stag's  breath  sucks  up  a  clammy  snake,5  so  Iris6 
plucks  up  the  waters  that  will  afterwards  fall  from 
on  high.  Of  late  when  a  discharge  was  sought  for 
wounded  Myrinus,  Hermogenes  filched  four  nap- 
kins ; 7  when  the  praetor  wanted  to  throw  his  white 
napkin,8  Hermogenes  pilfered  his  napkin  from  the 
praetor.  When  no  one  had  brought  a  napkin,  in 
fear  of  theft,  Hermogenes  pilfered  the  table-cloth 
from  off  the  table.  If  this,  too,  is  not  to  be  found, 
Hermogenes  is  not  afraid  to  strip  the  valance  from 
round  the  couches  and  the  feet  of  the  tables.  Al- 
though the  arena  is  burning  under  an  immoderate 
sun,  the  awning  is  drawn  back  when  Hermogenes 
arrives.  Sailors  in  a  panic  hurry  to  brail  up  their 
canvas  whenever  Hermogenes  has  appeared  at  the 
port.  Linen- clad,  bald  priests  and  the  company  with 
the  timbrels 9  fly  when  Hermogenes  has  taken  his 
stand  among  the  worshippers.  To  a  dinner  Hermo- 
genes has  never  brought  a  napkin :  from  a  dinner 
Hermogenes  has  always  carried  a  napkin  home. 

5  According  to  PJiny  (N.H.  viii.  50)  stags  with  their  breath 
drew  serpents  out  of  their  holes  :  cf.  also  Lucr.  vi.  765. 

6  The  rainbow. 

7  Handkerchiefs  were  waved  when  a  discharge  or  quarter 
was  wished  by   the   spectators   for   a  gladiator :    cf.    Lib. 
Sped.  xxix.  3. 

8  As  a  signal  for  the  starting  of  the  races  in  the  circus. 
The  praetor  presided. 

•  The  priests  and  worshippers  of  Isis.  The  priests  and 
initiates  wore  linen,  and  their  heads  were  shaved  :  Juv.  vi. 
533. 

339 
z  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXX 

Siccus,  sobrius  est  Aper  ;  quid  ad  me? 
servum  sic  ego  laudo,  non  amicum. 

XXXI 

Hoc  nemus,  hi  fontes,  haec  textilis  umbra  supini 

palmitis,  hoc  riguae  ductile  flumen  aquae, 
prataque,  nee  bifero  cessur.i  rosaria  Paesto, 

quodque  viret  lani  mense  nee  alget  holus, 
quaeque  natat  clusis  anguilla  domestica  lymphis,       5 

quaeque  gerit  similes  Candida  turris  aves, 
munera  sunt  dominae  :  post  septima  lustra  reverso 

has  Marcella  domos  parvaque  regna  dedit. 
si  mihi  Nausicaa  patrios-  concederet  hortos, 

Alcinoo  possem  dicere  "  Malo  meos."  10 

XXXII 

O  IULIARUM  dedecus  Kalendarum, 

vidi.  Vacerra,  sarcinas  tuas,  vidi ; 

quas  non  retentas  pensione  pro  bima 

portabat  uxor  rufa  crinibus  septem 

et  cum  sorore  cana  mater  ingenti.  5 

Furias  putavi  nocte  Ditis  emersas. 

has  tu  priores  frigore  et  fame  siccus 

et  non  recenti  pallidus  magis  buxo 

Irus  tuorum  temporum  sequebaris. 

migrare  clivom  crederes  Aricinum.  10 

1  Paestum  in  Campania  was  celebrated  for  roses  :  cf.  vi. 
Ixxx.  6.     "Twice-bearing"  was  a  common  epithet:  Verg. 
O.  iv.  119. 

2  A  Spanish  lady  to  whom  he  also  addresses  xn.  xxi. 

34° 


BOOK    XII.  xxx-xxxn 

XXX 

APER  is  abstemious,  sober  :  what  is  that  to  me  ? 
A  slave  I  praise  so,  not  a  friend. 

XXXI 

THIS  grove,  these  founts,  this  matted  shade  of 
arching  vine,  this  conduit  of  refreshing  water,  and 
the  meadows,  and  the  beds  of  rose  that  will  not 
yield  to  twice-bearing  Paestum,1  and  the  pot-herb 
in  January  green,  nor  seared  by  frost ;  and  the  tame 
eel  that  swims  in  its  shut  tank,  and  the  white  dove- 
cote that  harbours  birds  as  white — these  are  my 
lady's  gifts :  to  me  returned  after  seven  lustres  has 
Marcella  2  given  this  house  and  tiny  realm.  If  Nau- 
sicaa  were  to  yield  me  her  sire's  gardens,  I  could  say 
to  Alcinous  3  "  I  prefer  my  own." 

XXXII 

O  YOU  disgrace  of  July's  kalends,4  I  have  seen 
your  traps,  Vacerra,  I  have  seen  them,  the  lot  that 
was  not  distrained  upon  for  two  years'  rent,  and 
which  your  wife  carried,  red-headed  with  her  seven 
curls,  and  your  white-headed  mother,  together  with 
your  hulking  sister.  Furies  were  they,  methought, 
emerged  from  the  night  of  Dis !  These  two  ladies 
in  front,  you,  parched  with  cold  and  hunger,  and 
paler  than  faded  boxwood,  the  Irus5  of  your  day, 
followed  :  you  would  have  thought  Aricia's  hill 6  was 

8  "  The  gardens  of  Alcinous,"  king  of  Phaeacia,  was  pro- 
verbial. *  Quarter-day. 

5  The  beggar  in  the  Odyssey  who  was  beaten  by  Ulysses. 
e  Where  beggars  took  their  stand  :  cf.  n.  xix.  3. 

341 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

ibat  tripes  grabatus  et  bipes  mensa 

et  cum  lucerna  corneoque  cratere 

matella  curto  rupta  latere  meiebat  ; 

foco  virenti  suberat  amphorae  cervix  ; 

fuisse  gerres  aut  inutiles  maenas  15 

odor  inpudicus  urcei  fatebatur, 

qualis  marinae  vix  sit  aura  piscinae. 

nee  quadra  derat  casei  Telosatis, 

quadrima  nigri  nee  corona  pulei 

calvaeque  restes  alioque  caepisque,  20 

nee  plena  turpi  matris  olla  resina 

Summemmianae  qua  pilantur  uxores. 

quid  quaeris  aedes  vilicosque  derides, 

habitare  gratis,  o  Vacerra,  cum  possis  ? 

haec  sarcinarum  pompa  convenit  ponti.         25 

XXXIII 

UT  pueros  etneret  Labienus  vendidit  hortos. 
nil  nisi  ficetum  nunc  Labienus  habet. 


XXXIV 

TRIGINTA  mihi  quattuorque  messes 

tecum,  si  memini,  fuere,  luli. 

quarum  dulcia  mixta  sunt  amaris 

sed  iucunda  tamen  fuere  plura  ; 

et  si  calculus  omnis  hue  et  illuc  5 

diversus  bicolorque  digeratur, 

vincet  Candida  turba  nigriorem. 

si  vitare  voles  acerba  quaedam 

et  tristis  animi  cavere  morsus, 

nulli  te  facias  nimis  sodalem :  10 

gaudebis  minus  et  minus  dolebis. 

342 


BO'OK    XII.  XXXH-XXXIV 

shifting  !  There  went  along  a  three-legged  truckle- 
bed  and  a  two-legged  table,  and,  alongside'  a  lantern 
and  bowl  of  cornel,  a  cracked  chamberpot  was  making 
water  through  its  broken  side ;  the  neck  of  a  flagon 
was  lying  under  a  brazier  green  with  verdigris  ;  that 
there  were  salted  gudgeons,  too,  or  worthless  sprats, 
the  obscene  stench  of  a  jug  confessed — such  a  stench 
as  a  whiff  of  a  marine  fish-pond  would  scarcely  equal. 
Nor  was  there  wanting  a  section  of  Tolosan  cheese, 
nor  a  four-year-old  chaplet  of  black  pennyroyal,  and 
ropes  shorn  of  their  garlic  and  onions,  nor  your 
mother's  pot  full  of  foul  resin,  the  depilatory  of 
dames  under  the  walls.  Why  do  you  look  for  a  house 
and  scoff  at  rent-collectors  when  you  can  lodge  for 
nothing,  O  Vacerra  ?  This  procession  of  your  traps 
befits  Beggars'  bridge. 

XXXIII 

To  purchase  slaves,  Labienus  sold  gardens.  Now 
Labienus  has  nothing  but  a  clump  of  figs.1 

XXXIV 

THIRTY  summers  and  four  there  were  which,  if  I 
mind  me,  I  spent,  Julius,2  with  you.  Thereof  the 
sweets  were  blended  with  the  bitters,  but  yet  were 
the  pleasant  things  the  more  ;  and  if  all  the  pebbles 
were  sorted,  on  this  side  and  on  that,  into  two  heaps 
of  diverse  colour,  the  white  heap  will  outnumber 
that  more  dark.  If  you  wish  to  shun  some  bitter- 
nesses and  to  beware  of  sorrows  that  gnaw  the 
heart,  to  no  man  make  yourself  too  much  a  comrade : 
your -joy  will  be  less  and  less  will  be  your  grief. 

1  A  play  on  the  two  meanings  otficus  :  rf.  i.  Ixv.  ;  iv.  lii. 

2  His  friend  and  namesake  Julius  Martialis. 

343 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXXV 

TAMQUAM  simpliciter  mecum,  Callistrate,  vivas, 

dicere  percisum  te  mihi  saepe  soles, 
non  es  tarn  simplex  quam  vis,  Callistrate,  credi. 

nnin  quisquis  narrat  talia  plura  tacet. 

XXXVI 

LIBRAS  quattuor  aut  duas  amico 

algentemque  togam  brevemque  laenam, 

interdum  aureolos  manu  crepantis, 

possint  ducere  qui  duas  Kalendas, 

quod  nemo  nisi  tu,  Labulle,  donas,  5 

non  es,  crede  mihi,  bonus,     quid  ergo  ?    . 

ut  verum  loquar,  optimus  malorum  es. 

Pisones  Senecasque  Memmiosque 

et  Crispos  mihi  redde,  sed  priores  : 

fies  protinus  ultimus  bonorum.  10 

vis  cursu  pedibusque  gloriari  ? 

Tigrim  vince  levemque  Passerinum  : 

nulla  est  gloria  praeterire  asellos. 

XXXVII 

NASUTUS  nimium  cupis  videri. 
nasutum  volo,  nolo  polyposum. 

xxx  vm 

HUNC  qui  femineis  noctesque  diesque  cathedris 
incedit  tota  notus  in  urbe  iiimis, 

1  ef.  iv.  xlviii.  1. 

2  Racehorses  :  cf.  vir.  vii.  10. 

344 


BOOK   XII.  XXXV-XXXVHI 

XXXV 

As  if  you  lived  with  me  on  the  frankest  terms, 
Callistratus,  you  are  used  often  to  tell  me  you  have 
been  debauched.1  You  are  not  so  frank  as  you  would 
have  it  believed,  Callistratus ;  fpr  a  man  who  blabs 
of  such  things,  conceals  more. 

XXXVI 

FOUR  pounds  of  plate,  or  two,  to  a  friend,  and  a 
shivering  toga  and  short  cloak,  sometimes  sovereigns 
that  chink  in  your  hand,  sufficient  to  last  over  two 
kalends — because  no  one  but  you,  Labullus,  makes 
such  presents,  you  are  not,  believe  me,  good  at  giving. 
What  then  ?  To  say  the  truth,  you  are  the  best  of  a 
bad  lot.  Give  me  back  the  Pisos,  and  the  Senecas, 
and  the  Memmiuses,  and  the  Crispuses — but  those 
of  former  days — you  will  at  once  become  the  worst 
of  a  good  lot.  Would  you  pride  yourself  on  your 
running  and  speed  of  foot  ?  Beat  Tigris  and  nimble 
Passarinus : 2  there  is  no  glory  in  outstripping 
donkeys. 

XXXVII 

You  are  over-anxious  to  appear  a  man  with  a  nose.3 
I  approve  of  a  man  with  a  nose :  I  object  to  one  with 
a  polypus. 

XXXVIII 

HERE  is  a  fellow  who  day  and  night  parades  in 
women's  chairs4 — one  notorious  through  the  whole 

3  i.e.  a  fine  critic  :  cf.  i.  iii.  6  ;  xni.  ii.  1.     "  Don't  overdo 
it,"  says  M. ;  "  your  critical  faculty  has  become  a  disease." 

4  Effeminate  men  often  used  the  woman's  chair  as  a  sedan  : 
cf.  x.  xiii.  1  ;  Juv.  i.  65. 

345 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

crine  nitens,  niger  unguento,  perlucidus  ostro, 
ore  tener,  latus  pectore,  crure  glaber, 

axori  qui  saepe  tuae  comes  inprobus  haeret,  5 

non  est  quod  timeas,  Candide  :  non  futuit. 

XXXIX 

ODI  te  quia  bellus  es,  Sabelle. 
res  est  putida,  bellus  et  Sabellus  ; 
bellum  denique  malo  quam  Sabellum. 
tabescas  utinam,  Sabelle,  belle  ! 

XL 

MENTIRIS,  credo :   recitas  inala  carmina,  laudo  : 
cantaSj  canto  :  bibis,  Pontiliane,  bibo  : 

pedis,  dissimulo  :  gemma  vis  ludere,  vincor  : 
res  una  est  sine  me  quam  facis,  et  taceo. 

nil  tamen  omnino  praestas  mihi.   "Mortuus  "  inquis   5 
"accipiam  bene  te."     nil  volo  :  sed  morere. 

XLI 

NON  estj  Tucca,  satis  quod  es  gulosus : 
et  dici  cupis  et  cupis  videri. 

XLII 

BARBATUS  rigido  nupsit  Callistratus  Afro 
hac  qua  lege  viro  nubere  virgo  solet. 

1  Or  "  I  prefer  war"  (Housman). 
346 


BOOK   XII.  xxxviii-xui 

city — sleek  of  hair,  dark  with  unguent,  bright  with 
purple,  languishing  of  eye,  broad  of  breast,  smooth 
of  shank,  who  often  clings  to  your  wife  as  an  offi- 
cious attendant.  You  need  not  be  alarmed,  Can- 
didus  :  he  is  no  practitioner. 

XXXIX 

I  DETEST  you  because  you  are  a  pretty  fellow, 
Sabellus.  'Tis  a  disgusting  object,  and  so  is 
pretty  Sabellus.  In  a  word,  I  prefer  a  pretty  fellow l 
to  Sabellus.  May  you  go  off  into  a  pretty  decline, 
Sabellus.2 

XL 

You  tell  fibs,  I  believe  you ;  you  recite  poor  poems, 
I  praise  them ;  you  sing,  I  sing ;  you  drink,  Pontili- 
anus,  I  drink ;  you  break  wind,  I  pretend  not  to 
hear ;  you  want  to  play  at  draughts,  I  am  beaten ; 
there  is  one  thing  you  do  without  my  privity,  and  I 
hold  my  tongue.  Yet  you  guarantee  me  nothing  at 
all.  "  When  I  am  dead,"  you  say,  "  I  will  treat  you 
well."  I  want  nothing — nevertheless  die  ! 

XLI 

IT  is  not  enough,  Tucca,  that  you  are  a  glutton : 
you  want  to  be  called  one,  and  you  want  to  appear 
one. 

XLII 

BEARDED  Callistratus  as  a  bride  wedded  the  brawny 
Afer  in  the  usual  form  as  when  a  virgin  weds  a 

2  The  ep.  is  untranslatable  in  English  so  as  to  keep  up  the 
puns  on  the  syllable  "  bell." 

347 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

praeluxere  faces,  velarunt  flammea  vultus, 
nee  tua  defuerunt  verba,  Talasse,  tibi. 

dos  etiam  dicta  est.     nondum  tibi,  Roma,  videtur     5 
hoc  satis  ?  expectas  numquid  ut  et  pariat  ? 


XLIII 

FACUNDOS  mihi  de  libidinosis 

legisti  nimium,  Sabelle,  versus, 

quales  nee  Didymi  sciunt  puellae 

nee  molles  Elephantidos  libelli. 

sunt  illic  Veneris  novae  figurae,  5 

quales  perditus  audeat  fututor, 

praestent  et  taceant  quid  exoleti, 

quo  symplegmate  quinque  copulentur, 

qua  plures  teneantur  a  catena, 

extinctam  liceat  quid  ad  lucernam.  10 

tanti  non  erat  esse  te  disertum. 


XLIV 

UNICE,  cognato  iunctum  mihi  sanguine  nomen 

qui  geris  et  studio  corda  propinqua  meis; 
carmina  cum  facias  soli  cedentia  fratri, 

pectore  non  minor  es  sed  pietate  prior. 
Lesbia  cum  lepido  te  posset  amare  Catullo, 

te  post  Nasonem  blanda  Corinna  sequi. 
nee  derant  Zephyri  si  te  dare  vela  iuvaret ; 

sed  tu  litus  amas.     hoc  quoque  fratris  habes. 


1  cf.  the  nuptials  of  Nero  and  Pythagoras  described  by 
Tac.  'Ann.  xv.  37. 

2  Unknown. 

348 


BOOK   XII.  XLII-XLIV 

husband.  The  torches  shone  before  him,  a  wedding- 
veil  disguised  his  face,  nor  were  the  words  of  thy 
song,  God  of  Marriage,  unheard.  A  dower  even  was 
arranged.  Do  you  not  yet  think,  O  Rome,  this  is 
enough  ?  Are  you  waiting  also  for  an  accouchement  ?  x 


XLIII 

Tu  m'hai  letto,  O  Sabello,  dei  versi  troppo  facondi 
di  cose  libidinose,  che  ne  le  ragazze  di  Didimo2 
sanno,  ne  gli  effeminati  Elefantidi3  libri.  Qui  vi 
sono  nuove  figure  di  venere,  che  il  piu  scellerato 
immembratore  avventurebbe  ;  che  i  vecchi  libertini 
fanno  e  tacciono ;  con  qual  accoppiamento  cinque 
sono  legati ;  da  qual  catena  parecchi  sono  tenuti, 
qual  cosa  e  permessa,  estinta  la  lucerna.  La  materia 
non  era  si  sublime  per  comparire  eloquente. 


XLIV 

UNICUS,*  that  bearest  a  name  knit  to  mine  by  kin- 
dred blood,  and  a  heart  close  allied  to  my  studies, 
though  thou  shapest  lays  that  yield  the  palm  to  thy 
brother  alone,  yet  in  genius  art  thou  not  less  than 
he,  albeit  in  mutual  devotion  greater.  Lesbia  might 
have  loved  thee  as  well  as  witty  Catullus;  to  thee, 
after  Naso,  might  winsome  Corinna  have  clung. 
Winds  failed  not  didst  thou  wish  to  spread  thy  sails ; 
but  thou  lovest  the  shore  :  herein,  too,  art  thou  like 
thy  brother. 

3  Elephantis  was  a  Greek  poetess  of  the  period  who  wrote 
lascivious  poems.     The  Emperor  Tiberius  had  these  at  his 
villa  at  Capreae  as  guidebooks  to  his  lusts  :  Suet.  Tib.  xliii. 

4  "  Possibly  a  Valerius  Unicus,  only  mentioned  here." 

349 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XLV 

HAEDINA  tibi  pelle  contegenti 
nudae  tempora  verticemque  calvae 
festive  tibi,  Phoebe,  dixit  ille 
qui  dixit  caput  esse  calceatum. 

XLVI 

VENDUNT  carmina  Gallus  et  Lupercus. 
sanos,  Classice,  nunc  nega  poetas. 

XLVII 

DIFFICILIS  facilis,  iucundus  acerbus  es  idem  : 
nee  tecum  possum  vivere  nee  sine  te. 

XLVIII 

BOLETOS  et  aprum  si  tamquam  vilia  ponis 

et  non  esse  putas  haec  mea  vota,  volo : 
si  fortunatum  fieri  me  credis  et  heres 

vis  scribi  propter  quinque  Lucrina,  vale, 
lauta  tamen  cena  est :  fateor,  lautissima,  sed  eras     5 

nil  erit,  immo  hodie,  protinus  immo  nihil, 
quod  sciat  infelix  damnatae  spongea  virgae 

vel  quicumque  canis  iunctaque  testa  viae : 
mullorum  leporumque  et  suminis  exitus  hie  est. 

sulpureusque  color  carnificesque  pedes.  10 


1  As  to  such  a  covering  cf.  xiv.  1. 

2  The  last  line  is  borrowed  from  Ovid,  Ant.  in.  xi.  39. 

*  Used  for  sanitary  purposes.  Seneca  (Ep.  70)  tells  the 
story  of  a  bestiarius  who  asked  leave  to  retire  to  the  latrine 
and  choked  himself  with  the  sponge. 

35° 


BOOK   XII.  XLV-XLVIII 


XLV 

As  you  cover  with  a  kid's  skin  l  your  temples  and 
the  crown  of  your  bald  pate,  he  made  a  happy  re- 
mark to  you,  Phoebus,  who  told  you  your  head  was 
well  shod. 

XLVI 

GALLUS  and  Lupercus  sell  their  poems :  now,  Clas- 
sicus,  tell  us  poets  are  not  sane  ! 

XLVII 

DIFFICULT  and  easy-going,  pleasant  and  churlish, 
you  are  at  the  same  time  :  I  can  neither  live  with 
you  nor  without  you.2 

XLVIII 

IF  you  serve  me  mushrooms  and  boar  as  your  usual 
fare,  and  don't  imagine  that  these  are  what  I  pray 
for,  I  am  willing  to  come ;  if  you  believe  I  am  be- 
coming wealthy,  and  you  want  to  be  written  down 
my  heir  in  return  for  five  Lucrine  oysters,  good- 
bye !  Yet  your  dinner  is  sumptuous :  I  confess,  most 
sumptuous,  but  to-morrow  'twill  be  nought,  nay  to- 
day, nay  a  moment  hence,  nought  that  the  luckless 
sponge  at  the  end  of  a  degraded  mop-stick3  would 
discover,  or  any  dog,4  or  crock  by  the  highway.5  Of 
mullets,  and  hares,  and  sow's  paps,  this  is  the  re- 
sult— a  bilious  complexion  and  torturing  feet.  No 


4  Qui  ad  vomitum  accurrit — Schrev. 

6  Set  by  the  roadside  as  a  urinal :  cf.  VI.  xciii.  2. 


35' 


THE   EPIGRAMS  OF  MARTIAL 

non  Albana  mihi  sit  comissatio  tanti 

nee  Capitolinae  pontificumque  dapes ; 
inputet  ipse  deus  nectar  mihi,  fiet  acetum 

et  Vaticani  perfida  vappa  cadi, 
convivas  alios  cenarum  quaere  magister  15 

quos  capiant  mensae  regna  superba  tuae  : 
me  meus  ad  subitas  invitet  amicus  ofellas  : 

haec  mihi  quam  possum  reddere  cena  placet. 

XLIX 

CRINITAE  Line  paedagoge  turbae, 

rerum  quern  dominum  vocat  suarum 

et  credit  cui  Postumilla  dives 

gemmas,  aurea,  vina,  concubines, 

sic  te  perpetua  fide  probatum  5 

nulli  non  tua  praeferat  patrona  : 

succurras  misero,  precor,  furori 

et  serves  aliquando  neglegenter 

illos  qui  male  cor  meum  perurunt, 

quos  et  noctibus  et  diebus  opto  10 

in  nostro  cupidus  sinu  videre, 

formosos  niveos  pares  gemellos 

grandes,  non  pueros,  sed  uniones. 


DAPHNONAS,  platanonas  et  aerios  pityonas 

et  non  unius  balnea  solus  babes, 
et  tibi  centenis  stat  porticus  alta  columnis 

calcatusque  tuo  sub  pede  lucet  onyx, 

1  Such  as  Domitian  gave  at  his  Alban  villa. 

2  Banquets   by   the    Epulones  to   Jupiter  Capitolinus,  or 
those  given  by  the  College  of  Pontiffs  :  as  to  the  latter  ef. 

352 


BOOK    XII.  XLVIII-L 

Alban  revel l  would  be  worth  it  to  me,  or  Capitoline 
and  Pontifical  feasts ; 2  should  the  God  himself  ac- 
count me  his  debtor  for  nectar,  it  will  become  vinegar 
and  the  deceptive  vapidity  of  a  Vatican  3  jar.  Look 
out,  as  lord  of  the  banquet,  for  other  guests  whom 
the  royal  magnificence  of  your  table  may  attract: 
as  for  me,  let  my  friend  invite  me  to  hasty  collops. 
The  dinner  I  like  is  the  dinner  I  can  return. 

XLIX 

LINUS,  guardian  of  a  long-haired  troop,  whom 
rich  Postumilla  calls  the  master  of  her  fortune,  and 
to  whom  she  entrusts  gems,  gold  plate,  wines,  para- 
mours ;  so  may  your  patroness  prefer  none  other  to 
you  who  are  proved  by  constant  fidelity ;  come,  I 
pray  you,  to  the  aid  of  my  wretched  frenzy,  and 
sometimes  guard  negligently  those  that  sadly  con- 
sume my  heart,  those  that  night  and  day  I  long  in 
eagerness  to  see  in  my  bosom,  beautiful,  snowy- 
white,  a  pair,  twins,  big- — I  mean  not  boys,  but 
pearls. 


LAUREL-groves,  plane-groves,  and  aery  pine-groves, 
and  a  bath  not.  made  for  one,  you  keep  to  yourself, 
and  your  colonnade  stands  high  on  a  hundred  columns, 
and  trodden  under  your  foot  gleams  the  alabaster ; 

Hor.  Od.  ii.  xiv.  28.  Macrobiug  (Sat.  iii.  13)  describes  the 
courses  of  a  pontifical  feast  given  by  Cecilius  Metellus,  who 
was  pontiff  before  Julius  Caesar.  s  cf.  vi.  xcii.  2. 

353 

VOL.  It.  A    A 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

pulvereumque  fugax  hippodromon  ungula  plaudit     5 
et  pereuntis  aquae  fluctus  ubique  sonat ; 

atria  longa  patent,     sed  nee  cenantibus  usquam  , 
nee  somno  locus  est.     quam  bene  non  habitas ! 


LI 

TAM  saepe  nostrum  decipi  Fabullinum 
miraris,  Aule  ?  semper  homo  bonus  tiro  est. 


LII 

TEMPORA  Pieria  solitus  redimire  corona 

nee  minus  attonitis  vox  celebrata  reis, 
hie  situs  estj  hie  ille  tuus,  Sempronia,  Rufus, 

cuius  et  ipse  tui  flagrat  amore  cinis. 
dulcis  in  Elysio  narraris  fabula  campo  5 

et  stupet  ad  raptus  Tjndaris  ipsa  tuos  : 
tu  melior  quae  deserto  raptore  redisti, 

ilia  virum  voluit  nee  repetita  sequi. 
audit l  et  Iliacos  ridet  Menelaus  amores  : 

absolvit  Phrygium  vestra  rapina  Parim.  10 

accipient  olim  cum  te  loca  laeta  piorum, 

non  erit  in  Stygia  notior  umbra  domo : 
non  aliena  videt  sed  amat  Proserpina  raptas  : 

iste  tibi  dominam  conciliabit  amor. 


1  audet — ridet    Stephenson,   ridet — audit    codd. ,   ridet   ut 
Postgate. 

354 


BOOK    XII.  L-LII 

and  the  flying  hoof  makes  ring  your  dusty  drive,  and 
on  every  side  babbles  the  water  of  a  stream  crossing 
vour  ground  ;  your  halls  lie  open  without  end.  But 
nowhere  is  there  a  place  for  dining  or  for  sleep. 
How  well  you  are — not  housed  ! 


LI 

Do  you  wonder,  Aulus,  that  our  friend  Fabullinus 
is  so  often  taken  in  ?  A  good  man  is  always  a 
greenhorn. 

LII 

HE  who  was  wont  to  bind  his  temples  with  the 
Muses'  crown,  whose  eloquence  was  no  less  famed 
among  dismayed  defendants,  here,  here  he  lies,  Sem- 
pronia,  who  was  once  thy  own  Rufus,  whose  very 
ashes  glow  with  love  for  thee.  Sweetly  mid  Elysian 
fields  is  thy  story  told,  and  dazed  is  even  Tyndarus' 
daughter l  at  thy  ravishment ;  thy  fame  is  the  hap- 
pier, for,  quitting  thy  ravisher,  thou  didst  return ; 
she,  even  when  sought  again,  would  not  join  her 
spouse.  Menelaus  2  listens  to  a  Trojan  love-tale  and 
smiles :  the  story  of  your  rape  makes  Phrygian 
Paris  guiltless.  When  the  joyous  abodes  of  pious 
souls  shall  some  day  receive  thee,  no  shade  more 
famed  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  Styx  ;  Proserpina 
looks  not  strangely  on  the  ravished,3  but  loves 
them :  that  love  thou  hast  shown  shall  win  thy 
Queen's  good-will. 

1  Helen  of  Troy. 

3  King  of  Sparta,  and  husband  of  Helen.  The  meaning 
seems  to  be  that  the  charm  of  the  story  of  these  two  would 
make  even  M.  pardon  Paris. 

*  For  she  was  herself  carried  off  by  Pluto. 

355 

A    A    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LIII 

NUMMI  cum  tibi  sint  opesque  tantae 

quantas  civis  habet,  Paterne,  rarus 

largiris  nihil  incubasque  gazae 

ut  magnus  draco  quern  canunt  poetae 

custodem  Scythici  fuisse  luci.  5 

sed  causa,  ut  memoras  et  ipse  iactas, 

dirae  filius  est  rapacitatis. 

ecquid  tu  fatuos  rudesque  quaeris 

inludas  quibus  auferasque  mentem  ? 

huic  semper  vitio  pater  fuisti.  10 

LIV 

CRINE  ruber,  niger  ore,  brevis  pede,  lumine  laesus, 
rem  magnam  praestas,  Zoile,  si  bonus  es. 

LV 

GRATIS  qui  dare  vos  iubet,  puellae, 

insulsissimus  inprobissimusque  est. 

gratis  ne  date,  basiate  gratis. 

hoc  Aegle  negat,  hoc  avara  vehdit 

(sed  vendat :  bene  basiare  quantum  est !)       5 

hoc  vendit  quoque  nee  levi  rapina  : l 

aut  libram  petit  ilia  Cosmiani 

aut  binos  quater  a  nova  moneta, 

ne  sint  basia  muta,  ne  maligna, 

ne  clusis  aditum  neget  labellis.  10 

humane  tamen  hoc  facit :  recusat 2 

gratis  quae  dare  basium,  sed  unum, 

gratis  lingere  non  recusat  Aegle. 


1  5,  6  oni.  £,  post  8  transp.  Friedl. 

2  recusat  Housman,  sed  unum  codd. 


356 


BOOK    XII.  LIII-LV 

LIII 

THOUGH  you  have  moneys  and  wealth  such  as  only 
a  citizen  here  and  there  owns,  you  bestow  nothing, 
Paternus,  and  brood  over  your  treasure  like  the  great 
dragon  that  poets  sing  of  as  guardian  once  of  the 
Scythian  grove.1  But  the  reason,  as  you  report, 
and  yourself  repeat,  is  a  son  of  dreadful  rapacious- 
ness.  Are  you  looking,  then,  for  simpletons  and 
ignoramuses  to  delude  and  rob  of  sense  ?  To  this 
vice  you  have  always  been  father. 

LIV 

OF  hair  red,  swarthy  of  face,  short  of  foot,  of  eye 
blear,  you  show  yourself  to  be  a  portent,  Zoilus, 
if  you  are  virtuous.2 

LV 

HE  who  bids  you,  girls,  give  your  favours  for  no- 
thing, is  a  most  foolish  and  impudent  fellow.  Do 
not  give  them  for  nothing,  kiss  for  nothing.  This 
Aegle  refuses,  this  in  her  greed  she  sells.  But  let 
her  sell  it :  how  precious  is  a  good  kiss !  This  she 
sells,  I  say,  and  for  no  small  plunder  too ;  she  asks 
for  either  a  pound  of  Cosmian  unguent,  or  four  times 
two  gold  coins  of  the  new  mintage,  that  her  kisses 
may  not  be  silent  ones  or  grudgingly  given,  that  she 
may  not  with  shut  lips  deny*  their  approach.  Yet 
this  one  thing  she  does  graciously ;  Aegle,  who 
refuses  to  give  a  kiss,  a  single  kiss,  for  nothing, 
does  not  refuse  to  —  —  for  nothing. 


1  Guarding  the  golden  fleece. 

2  i.e.  Heaven  has  marked  you  as  one  to  be  avoided. 


357 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LVI 

AEGROTAS  uno  decies  aut  saepius  anno, 

nee  tibi  sed  nobis  hoc,  Polycharme,  nocet : 

nara  quotiens  surgis,  soteria  poscis  amicos. 
sit  pudor  :   aegrota  iam,  Polycharme,  semel. 

LVII 

CUR  saepe  sicci  parva  rura  Nomenti 

laremque  villae  sordidum  petam,  quaeris? 

nee  cogitandi,  Sparse,  nee  quiescendi 

in  urbe  locus  est  pauperi.     negant  vitam 

ludi  magistri  mane,  nocte  pistores,  5 

aerariorum  marculi  die  toto  ; 

hinc  otiosus  sordidam  quatit  merisam 

Neroniana  nummularius  massa, 

illinc  palucis1  malleator  Hispanae 

tritum  nitenti  fuste  verberat  saxum  ;  10 

nee  turba  cessat  entheata  Bellonae, 

nee  fasciato  naufragus  loquax  trunco, 

a  matre  doctus  nee  rogare  ludaeus, 

nee  sulpuratae  lippus  institoi-  mercis. 

numerare  pigri  damna  qui  potest  somni,       15 

dicet  quot  aera  verberent  man  us  ufbis, 

cum  secta  Colcho  Luna  vapulat  rhombo. 

tu,  Sparse,  nescis  ista  nee  potes  scire, 

1  palucis  Friedl. ,  balucis  Turnebus,  paliidis  &y,  pollicent  T. 


1  i.e.  either  coins  of  light  weight  introduced  by  Nero,  who 
debased  the  coinage,  or  small  coins  bearing  the  head  of  the 
emperor  stamped  in  a  particular  way  to  distinguish  them. 
The  nummula/rius  had  a  heap  (massa)  of  these. 

2  Palux  is  the  smaller  gold  found  by  washing  in  Spain,  not 
large  enough  to  constitute  a  nugget :  Plin.  N.H,'  x.T/m\.i\.  21. 


BOOK   XII.  LVI-LVII 

LVI 

You  are  ill  in  a  single  year  ten  times,  or  often er, 
and  this  does  not  hurt  you,  but  it  hurts  us,  Poly- 
charmus ;  for  every  time  you  rise  from  your  bed  you 
claim  congratulatory  gifts  from  your  friends.  Be 
moderate  :  now  be  ill,  Polycharmus,  once  for  all. 

LVII 

Do  you  ask  why  I  often  resort  to  my  small  fields 
in  arid  Nomentum,  and  the  unkempt  household  of 
my  villa  ?  Neither  for  thought,  Sparsus,  nor  for 
quiet  is  there  any  place  in  the  city  for  a  poor  man. 
Schoolmasters  in  the  morning  do  not  let  you  live ; 
before  daybreak,  bakers ;  the  hammers  of  the  copper- 
smiths all  day.  On  this  side  the  money-changer 
idly  rattles  on  his  dirty  table  Nero's  coins,1  on  that 
the  hammerer  of  Spanish  gold-dust2  beats  his  well- 
worn  stone  with  burnished  mallet ;  and  Bellona's 
raving  throng  does  not  rest,  nor  the  canting  ship- 
wrecked seaman  with  his  swathed  body,3  nor  the 
Jew  taught  by  his  mother  to  beg,  nor  the  blear-eyed 
huckster  of  sulphur  wares.  He  who  can  count  the 
losses  lazy  sleep  must  bear  will  say  how  many 
brass  pots  and  pans  city  hands  clash  when  the 
eclipsed  moon  is  being  assailed  by  the  Colchian 
magic-wheel.4  You,  Sparsus,  know  nothing  of  these 
things,  and  cannot  know,  luxurious  as  you  are  in  your 

3  So  pretending  he  had  lost  a  limb.  Some  however  under- 
stand fasciato  trunco  as  a  fragment  of  the  wrecked  vessel,  or 
a  picture  of  the  ship,  perhaps  painted  on  a  plank,  swathed 
in  a  covering  :  cf.  Pers.  i.  88  ;  JUT.  xiv.  302. 

*  An  eclipse  was  attributed  to  witches,  and  the  clashing 
of  brass  vessels  was  in  order  to  drive  away  evil  demons  :  cf. 
Theocr.  ii.  36 ;  Tac.  Ann.  i.  28. 

359 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

Petilianis  delicatus  in  regnis, 
cui  plana  summos  despicit  domus  mentis,     20 
et  rus  in  urbe  est  vinitorque  Romanus 
(nee  in  Falerno  colle  maior  autumnus) 
.  intraque  limen  latus  essedo  cursus, 
et  in  profundo  somnus  et  quies  nullis 
ofFensa  linguis,  nee  dies  nisi  admissus.  '25 

nos  transeuntis  risus  excitat  turbae, 
et  ad  cubile  est  Roma,     taedio  fessis 
dormire  quotiens  libuit,  imus  ad  villam. 

LVIII 

ANCILLARIOLUM  tua  te  vocat  uxor,  et  ipsa 
lecticariola  est.     estis,  Alauda.  pares. 

LIX 

TANTUM  dat  tibi  Roma  basiorum 

post  annos  modo  quindecim  reverse 

quantum  Lesbia  non  dedit  Catullo. 

te  vicinia  tota,  te  pilosus 

hircoso  premit  osculo  colonus  ;  5 

hinc  instat  tibi  textor,  inde  fullo, 

hinc  sutor  modo  pelle  basiata, 

hinc  menti  dominus  periculosi, 

hinc  fdexiocholusf,1  inde  lippus 

fellatorque  recensque  cunnilingus.  10 

iam  tanti  tibi  non  fuit  redire. 

1  dexiocholus  et  ft,  dexiocolus  E,  dexioculua  A,  inline  dexio- 
cholus  Lindsay,  nee  deeat  hinc  oculis  et  Heins. 


1  i.e.  a  palace  that  had  once  belonged  to  Petiliua,  perhaps 
the  P.  Cerealis  who  had  been  in  A.D.  71  the  governor  of 
Britain. 

360 


BOOK    XII.  LVII-LIX 

Petilian  *  domain  whose  ground  floor  looks  down  on 
the  hill  tops,  and  where  you  have  country  in  the 
town,  and  a  Roman  for  your  vine-dresser — not  on 
Falernian  hills  is  there  a  greater  crop — and  within 
your  boundary  a  broad  drive  for  your  curricle,  and 
unfathomed  depths  of  slumber,  and  a  stillness 
broken  by  no  tongues,  and  no  daylight  unless  you 
let  it  in.  As  for  me,  the  laughter  of  the  passing 
throng  wakes  me,  and  Rome  is  at  my  bed's  head. 
Whenever,  worn  out  with  worry,  I  wish  to  sleep,  I 
go  to  my  villa. 

LVIII 

YOUR  wife  calls  you  an  admirer  of  servant  maids,2 
and  she  herself  is  an  admirer  of  litter-bearers.  You 
are  a  pair,  Alauda. 

LIX 

ROME  gives  you  as  many  kisses,  when  after  fifteen 
years  you  have  just  returned,  as  Lesbia  never  gave 
Catullus.3  Upon  you  all  the  neighbourhood  presses, 
upon  you  the  bristly  farmer  with  a  kiss  like  a  he- 
goat's  ;  on  this  side  the  weaver  crowds  you,  on  that 
the  fuller,  on  this  the  cobbler  who  has  just  been 
kissing  his  hide,  on  this  the  owner  of  a  perilous 
chin  ; 4  on  this  side  the  one-eyed  and  on  that  the 
blear-eyed,  and  many  a  rascal  with  foulest  lips.  By 
now  you  find  it  was  not  worth  while  to  return. 

'2  This  seems  to  have  been,  among  Roman  matrons,  a  term 
of  reproach  of  those  who  kept  mistresses  of  low  degree  :  cf. 
Sen.  De  Ben.  i.  9. 

3  cf.  Cat.  v. 

4  i.e.    suffering    from    mentagra  ;    cf.    iv.    xxxvi.    2;    xi. 
xcvjij.  5, 


THE    EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

LX 

MARTIS  alurane  dies,  roseam  quo  lampada  primum 

magnaque  siderei  vidimus  ora  dei, 
si  te  rure  coli  viridisque  pudebit  ad  aras, 

qui  fueras  Latia  cultus  in  urbe  mihi : 
da  veniam,  servire  meis  quod  nolo  Kaleiidis  5 

et  qua  sum  genitus  vivere  luce  volo. 
natali  pallere  suo,  ne  calda  Sabello  [LXb 

desit ;  et  ut  liquidum  potet  Alauda  merum, 
turbida  sollicito  transmittere  Caecuba  sacco  ; 

atque  inter  mensas  ire  redire  suas ;  10 

excipere  hos  illos  et  tota  surgere  cena 

marmora  calcantem  frigidiora  gelu  : 
quae  ratio  est  haec  sponte  sua  perferre  patique 

quae  te  si  iubeat  rex  dominusque,  neges  ?     — 

LXI 

VERSUS  et  breve  vividumque  carmen 

in  te  ne  faciam  times,  Ligurra, 

et  dignus  cupis  hoc  metu  videi'i. 

sed  frustra  metuis  cupisque  frustra. 

in  tauros  Libyci  ruunt  leones,  5 

non  sunt  papilionibus  molesti. 

quaeras  censeo,  si  legi  laboras, 

nigri  fornicis  ebrium  poetam, 

qui  carbone  rudi  putrique  creta 

scribit  carmina  quae  legunt  cacantes.  10 

frons  haec  stigmate  non  meo  notanda  est. 

1  M.  is  in  Spain  celebrating  his  birthday,  the  First  of  March, 
a  day  sacred  to  Mars.     He  contrasts  the  simplicity  of  his 
celebration  with  a  birthday  feast  at  Rome. 

2  The  Sun.     The  epithet  is  an  allusion  to  the  statue  of  the 
Sun  in  front  of  the  Colosseum  :  r.f.  Sped,  ii.  1. 

362 


BOOK    XII.  LX-LXI 

LX 

THOU  day,  nursling  of  Mars,1  whereon  I  first  saw 
the  rosy  light  and  the  mighty  visage  of  the  star- 
encircled  god,2  if  it  shall  shame  thee  to  be  worshipped 
in  the  country  and  at  green  altars,  who  wert  wor- 
shipped by  me  in  the  Latian  city,  grant  thy  pardon 
in  that  I  refuse  to  be  a  slave  on  my  kalends,  but 
wish  to  live3  on  the  day  I  was  born.  To  grow  pale 
on  one's  birthday  lest  Sabellus  lack  warm  water;  and, 
that  Alauda  may  drink  his  wine  strained,  anxiously 
to  pass  the  turbid  Caecuban  through  the  bag ;  and 
to  go  to  and  fro  among  one's  tables  ;  to  receive  these 
and- those  guests,  and  all  through  the  dinner  to  be 
getting  up,  treading  on  marble  colder  than  ice* — 
what  reason  is  there  why  one  should  suffer  and 
endure  these  things  of  one's  own  accord,  which,  if 
your  lord  and  master  5  bade  you,  you  would  refuse  ? 

LXI 

You  are  afraid,  Ligurra,  I  should  write  verses  on 
you,  and  some  short  and  lively  poem,  and  you  long 
to  be  thought  a  man  that  justifies  such  fear.  But 
vain  is  your  fear,  and  your  longing  is  vain.  Against 
bulls  Libyan  lions  rage,  they  are  not  hostile  to  but- 
terflies. Look  out,  I  advise  you,  if  you  are  anxious 
to,  be  read  of,  for  some  dark  cellar's  sottish  poet,  one 
who  with  coarse  charcoal  or  crumbling  chalk  scrawls 
poems  which  people  read  in  the  jakes.  Your  brow 
is  not  one  to  be  marked  by  my  brand. 

8  M.  constantly  harps  upon  this  idea  :  cf.  n.  xo.  3  ;  v. 
xxi.  11. 

*  M.  would  be  barefooted,  as  the  shoes  were  not  worn 
during  dinner. 

6  Your  patron. 

363 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXH 

ANTIQUI  rex  magne  poll  mundique  prioris, 

sub  quo  pigra  quies  nee  labor  ullus  erat, 
nee  regale  nimis  fulmen  nee  fulmine  digni, 

scissa  nee  ad  Manes  sed  sibi  dives  humus : 
laetus  ad  haec  facilisque  veni  sollemnia  Prisci  5 

gaudia  :  cum  sacris  te  decet  esse  tuis. 
tu  reducem  patriae  sexta,  pater  optime,  bruma 

pacific!  Latia  reddis  ab  urbe  Numae. 
cernis  ut  Ausonio  similis  tibi  pompa  macello 

pendeat  et  quantus  luxurietur  honos?  10 

quam  non  parca  manus  largaeque  nomismata  mensae, 

quae,  Saturne,  tibi  pernumerentur  opes  ? 
utque  sit  his  pr*etium  meritis  et  gratia  maior, 

et  pater  et  frugi  sic  tua  sacra  colit. 
at  tu  sancte  (tuo  sic  semper  amere  Decembri)          15 

hos  illi  iubeas  saepe  redire  dies. 

LXIII 

UNCTO  Corduba  laetior  Venafro, 

Histra  nee  minus  absoluta  testa, 

albi  quae  superas  oves  Galaesi 

nullo  murice  nee  cruore  mendax, 

sed  tinetis  gregibus  colore  vivo :  -5 

die  vestro,  rogo,  sit  pudor  poetae 

1  When  there  was  no  mining  for  precious  metals. 

2  Prisons'  father  is  giving  a  feast  to  celebrate  his  son's 
return  to  Spain  :  cf.  xii.  Epiat. 

8  Rome :  cf.  vui.  yiii.  5. 

4  Representing  prizes  to  be  taken  away  by  guests.     The 
fourteenth  Book  is  wholly  concerned  with  such  prizes. 

364 


BOOK    XII.  LXII-I.XIII 

LXII 

GREAT  king  of  the  ancient  heaven  and  of  a  by- 
gone world,  under  whose  reign  was  lazy  rest  and  no 
toil,  nor  over-tyrannous  thunderbolt,  nor  men  that 
deserved  the  bolt,  when  earth  was  not  cleft  to  its 
nether  deeps  but  kept  her  riches  for  herself,1  gladly 
and  graciously  come  thou  to  Priscus'  2  festival  of  joy : 
it  befits  thee  to  attend  thy  own  rites.  Thou  in  the 
sixth  winter,  Father  most  good,  bringest  him  back 
to  his  fatherland  from  peaceful  Numa's  Latin  city.3 
Seest  thou  how,  as  in  a  Roman  market,  hangs  cheer, 
to  honour  thee,  how  full  is  festive  luxury  ?  how  un- 
sparing the  hand  ?  and  the  tokens  *  on  the  loaded 
board?  what  rich  gifts,  Saturnus,  are  measured  out 
to  thee  ?  And,  to  give  value  and  greater  praise  to 
such  worth,  'tis  a  father  and  a  frugal  man  who  so 
celebrates  thy  rites.  And  do  thou,  hallowed  Sire 
(so  mayst  thou  be  ever  loved  thus  in  thy  own  De- 
cember), bid  days  like  these  return  upon  him  oft. 

LXIII 

CORDUBA,  more  prolific  than  oil-bearing  Venafrum,5 
nor  less  perfect  than  the  jars  of  Istria,6  thou  that  dost 
outvie  the  sheep  of  white  Galaesus,7  not  by  the  aid 
of  any  cheating  shell-fish  or  blood,  but  by  flocks 
coloured  in  native  hues,8  tell  your  poet,  I  beg  you, 

5  A  town  on  the  borders  of  Latiiim   celebrated  for  the 
excellence  of  its  olives  :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  u.  vi.  16. 

6  A  district  on  the  N.  of  the  Adriatic,  celebrated  for  its  oil. 

7  A  rivet  flowing  into  the  gulf  of  Tarentum,  on  the  banks 
of  which  sheep  fed,  celebrated  for  the  whiteness  of  their 
wool,  which  was  protected  by  skins  :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  II.  vi.  10. 

8  The   fleeces   of   the  sheep  fed  by  the  Baetis  were  not 
artificially   dyed,  but  had  a  natural  golden  hue  :  cf.  VIII. 
xxviii.  6. 

365 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

nee  gratis  recitet  meos  libellos. 

ferrem,  si  faceret  bonus  poeta, 

cui  possem  dare  mutuos  dolores. 

corrumpit  sine  talione  caeleps  ;  10 

caecus  perdere  non  potest  quod  aufert. 

nil  est  deterius  latrone  nudo  : 

nil  securius  est  malo  poeta. 

LXIV 

VINCENTEM  roseos  facieque  comaque  ministros 
Cinna  cocum  fecit.     Cinna,  gulosus  homo  es. 

LXV 

FORMOSA  Phyllis  nocte  cum  mihi  tota 
se  praestitisset  omnibus  modis  largam, 
et  cogitarem  mane  quod  darem  munus, 
utrumne  Cosmi,  Nicerotis  an  libram, 
an  Baeticarum  pondus  acre  lanarum,  5 

an  de  moneta  Caesaris  decem  flavos, 
amplexa  collum  basioque  tarn  longo 
blandita  quam  sunt  nuptiae  columbarum, 
rogare  coepit  Phyllis  amphoram  vini. 

LXVI 

Bis  quinquagenis  domus  est  tibi  milibus  empta, 
vendere  quam  summa  vel  breviore  cupis. 

arte  sed  emptorem  vafra  corrumpis,  Amoene, 
et  casa  divitiis  ambitiosa  latet. 

gemmantes  prima  fulgent  testudine  lecti  5 

et  Maurusiaci  pondera  rara  citri ; 


1  His  sight. 

2  Because  his  poems  are  not  worth  stealing. 


366 


BOOK    XII.  LXIII-LXVI 

to  have  some  shame,  and  not  to  recite  my  poems 
scot-free.  I  could  bear  it  if  a  good  bard  did  this, 
one  I  could  visit  with  pain  in  his  turn.  A  bachelor 
debauches  without  reprisal,  a  blind  man  cannot  lose 
that1  whereof  he  robs  you.  Nothing  is  worse  than 
a  naked  robber,  nothing  more  safe  than  a  bad  poet.2 

LXIV 

A  SLAVE  surpassing  with  his  face  and  locks  the 
rosy-chpeked  attendants  Cinna  has  made  his  cook. 
Cinna,  you  are  a  lickerish  fellow ! 

LXV 

WHEN  lovely  Phyllis  had  all  the  evening  yielded 
herself  bounteously  to  me  in  every  way,  and  I  was 
considering  next  morning  what  present  to  give  her, 
whether  a  pound  of  unguent  of  Cosmus'  or  Niceros' 3 
make,  or  full  weight  of  Baetic  wool,  or  ten  yellow 
boys  of  Caesar's  mintage,  Phyllis,  embracing  my 
neck,  and  wheedling  me  with  a  kiss  as  lingering  as 
that  of  wedded  doves,  began  to  ask  me  for  a — jar 
of  wine ! 

LXVI 

A  TOWN  house  was  bought  by  you  for  twice  fifty 
thousand  sesterces,  and  you  long  to  sell  it  even 
for  a  scantier  sum.  But  you  seek  to  seduce  a  pur- 
chaser with  crafty  art,  Amoenus ;  and  a  cottage  lies 
disguised  pretentiously  in  riches.  Couches  gleam 
bright,  inlaid  with  peerless  tortoiseshell,  and  there 
are  pieces,  choice  and  weighty,  of  Moorish  citrus- 

8  Noted  perfumers  of  the  day,  and  often  mentioned  by  M. 

367 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

argentum  atque  aurum  non  simplex  Delphica  portat; 

slant  pueri,  dominos  quos  precer  esse  meos. 
deinde  ducenta  sonas  et  ais  non  esse  minoris. 

instructam  vili  vendis,  Amoene,  domum.  10 

,  .       LXVH 

MAIAE  Mercuriuni  creastis  Idus, 

Augustis  redit  Idibus  Diana, 

Octobres  Maro  consecravit  Idus. 

Idus  saepe  colas  et  has  et  illas, 

qui  magni  celebras  Maronis  Idus.  5 

LXVIII 

MATUTINE  cliens,  urbis  mihi  causa  relictae, 

atria,  si  sapias,  ambitiosa  colas, 
non  sum  ego  causidicus  nee  ainaris  litibus  aptus 

sed  piger  et  senior  Pieridumque  comes ; 
otia  me  somnusque  iuvant,  quae  magna  negavit         5 

Roma  mihi :  redeo,  si  vigilatur  et  hie. 

LXIX 

Sic  tamquam  tabulas  scyphosque,  Paule, 
omnes  archetypes  habes  amicos. 

1  This  term  has  an  indecent  sense  :  cf.  xi.  Ixx.  2. 

2  Amoenus  disguised  the  poorness  of  the  house,  which  was 
a  mere  cottage  (1.  4),  by  fine  furniture,  which  was  not  to  be 
sold  with  the  house.    A.  asks  200,000,  although  he  had  given 
only  half  that  sum,  and  would  take  less  (1.  2).     M.  ironically 
ignoring   the  fact   that  the  house   was  not  sold  furnished, 
pretends  to  agree  with  A.  that  the  house  was  cheap. 

3  May  15  was  the  dedication  day  of  the  Temple  of  Mer- 

368 


BOOK   XII.  LXVI-I.XIX 

wood ;  jjn  elaborate  sideboard  is  loaded  with  silver 
and  gold  plate ;  young  slaves  are  standing  there 
whom  I  would  wish  my  masters  ! 1  Then  you  loudly 
prate  of  two  hundred  thousand  sesterces,  and  say 
the  place  is  not  worth  less.  Furnished  as  it  is, 
Amoenus,  you  are  selling  your  town  house  cheap.2 

LXVII 

You,  Ides  of  May,  brought  forth  Mercurius ;  on 
August's  Ides  return  Diana's  feasts ;  Maro  has  hal- 
lowed the  Ides  of  October.  Oft  may  you  keep 
these  Ides  and  those,  you,  who  celebrate  great 
Maro's  Ides  !3 

LXVIII 

MORNING  client,  the  cause  of  my  leaving  Rome,  you 
would  court,  were  you  wise,  the  halls  of  greatness. 
No  pleader  am  I,  nor  fitted  for  bitter  lawsuits,  but 
an  indolent  man  and  one  growing 'old,  and  the  com 
rade  of  the  Muses.  Ease  and  sleep  attract  me,  and 
great  Rome  denied  me  these ;  I  return  if  I  am 
sleepless  even  here.4 

LXIX 

JUST  like  your  pictures  and  cups,  Paulus,  all  the 
friends  you  possess  are  "genuine  antiques."6 

cury  ;  Aug.  13  that  of  the  Temple  of  Diana  on  the  Aventine  ; 
and  Oct.  15  the  birthday  of  Virgil.  The  person  addressed  is 
probably  Silius  Italicus  :  ef.  xi.  xlix. 

*  "It  is  no  use  your  calling  on  me  in  the  morning,"  says 
M.  ;  "  the  duties  of  a  client  drove  me  from  Rome  :  I  don't 
expect  to  be  a  client  in  Spain,  and  lose  my  sleep. " 

8  i.e.  as  false  as  they  are  ;  or  (perhaps)  kept  only  for  show 
(Paley).  Housman,  however,  treats  the  epigram  as  laudatory 
of  P.'s  friends. 

369 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXX  •- 

LINTEA  ferret  AprO  vatius  cum  vernula  nuper 

et  supra  togulam  lusca  sederet  anus 
atque  olei  stillam  daret  enterocelicus  unctor, 

udorum  tetricus  censor  et  asper  erat : 
frangendos  calices  efFundendumque  Falernum  5 

clamabat,  biberet  quod  modo  lotus  eques. 
a  sene  sed  postquam  patruo  venere  trecenta, 

sobrius  a  thermis  nescit  abire  domum. 
o  quantum  diatreta  valent  et  quinque  comati ! 

tune,  cum  pauper  erat,  non  sitiebat  Aper.  10 


LXXI 

NIL  non,  Lygde,  mihi  negas  roganti : 
at  quondam  mihi,  Lygde,  nil  negabas. 


LXXII 

IUGERA  mercatus  prope  busta  latentis  agelli 
et  male  compactae  culmina  fulta  casae, 

deseris  urbanas,  tua  praedia,  Pannyche,  lites 
parvaque  sed  tritae  praemia  certa  togae. 

frumentum,  milium  tisauamque  fabamque  solebas 
vendere  pragmaticus,  mine  emis  agricola. 

LXXIII 

HEREDEM  tibi  me,  Catulle,  dicis. 
non  credam,  nisi  legero,  Catulle. 


1  cf.  xi.  Ixxiii. 

*  Lining  the  great  roads  leading  out  of  Rome.     It  was  so 
small  that  the  tombs  dwarfed  it. 

370 


BOOK    XII.  Lxx-Lxxnt 

LXX 

WHEN  of  late  a  bow-legged  home-born  slave  carried 
his  towels  for  Aper,  and  a  one-eyed  old  crone  sat 
guard  over  his  scanty  toga,  and  a  ruptured  anointer 
offered  him  his  drop  of  oil,  he  was  a  stern  and  harsh 
censor  of  drinkers ;  he  used  to  shout  that  the  cups 
ought  to  be  smashed,  and  the  Falernian  poured  away 
that  the  knight,  just  bathed,  was  drinking.  But 
after  three  hundred  thousand  sesterces  came  to  him 
from  an  old  uncle,  he  doesn't  know  how  to  go  home 
from  the  warm  baths  sober.  Oh,  how  great  is  the 
influence  of  fretwork  chalices  and  five  long-haired 
slaves !  Then,  \vhen  he  was  poor,  Aper  was  not 
thirsty  ! 

LXXI 

THERE  is  nothing  you  do  not  deny  me,  Lygdus, 
when  I  ask ;  but  once  there  was  nothing,  Lygdus, 
you  denied.1 

LXXII 

HAVING  purchased  the  acres  of  a  small  farm  lying 
hid  near  the  tombs,2  and  an  ill-built  cottage  with  a 
shored-up  roof,  you  desert  the  city  law-suits,  that 
were  your  landed  estate,  Pannychus,  and  the  small 
but  certain  reward  of  your  threadbare  gown.  Wheat, 
millet,  and  barley  and  beans  you  used  to  sell  when 
you  were  an  attorney  :  you  buy  them  now  you  are  a 
farmer. 

LXXIII 

You  say  I  am  your  heir,  Catullus.  I  won't  believe 
it  unless  I  read  my  name,  Catullus.3 

3  i.e.  in  the  will,  which  would  be  after  C.'s  death.  A  hint 
to  him  to  die. 

37' 
B   B    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXIV 

DUM  tibi  Niliacus  portat  crystalla  cataplus, 

accipe  de  circo  pocula  Flaminio. 
hi  magis  au  daces,  an  sunt  qui  talia  mittunt 

munera  ?     sed  geminus  vilibus  usus  inest : 
nullum  sollicitant  haec,  Flacce,  toreuniata  furem       5 

et  nimium  calidis  nori  vitiantur  aquis. 
quid  quod  secure  potat  conviva  ministro 

et  casum  tremulae  non  timuere  manus  ? 
hoc  quoque  non  nihil  est,  quod  propinabis  in  istis, 

frangendtis  fuerit  si  tibi,  Flacce,  calix.  10 

LXXV 

FESTINAT  Polytimus  ad  puellas  ; 
invitus  puerum  fatetur  Hypnus  ; 
pastas  glande  natis  habet  Secundus ; 
mollis  Dindymus  est  sed  esse  non  vult ; 
Amphion  potuit  puella  nasci.  5 

horum  delicias  superbiamque 
et  fastus  querulos,  Avite,  malo 
quam  dotis  mihi  quinquies  ducena. 

LXXVI 

AMPHORA  vigesis,  modius  datur  acre  quaterno. 
ebrius  et  crudus  nil  habet  agricola. 


1  The  ninth  region  of  Rome,  N.W.  of  the  Capitol,  and 
including  the  Saepta,  where  were  shops :  cf.  IX.  lix.  1.  It 
took  its  name  from  the  Circus  Flaminius  on  the  Tiber,  S.  of 
the  Campus  Martins. 

*  AttdacM  calices  were  cups  not  valuable  enough  to  cause 
anxiety  as  to  breakage  :  cf.  xiv.  xciv.  It  is  a  "  bold  "  thing 
to  send  such  cups  to  a  man  that  imports  crystal. 

372 


BOOK    XII.  LXXIV-LXXVI 

LXXIV 

WHILE  a  fleet  from  Nile  is  bringing  you  crystal 
glass,  accept  some  cups  from  the  Flaminian  Circus.1 
Are  these  the  more  "dreadnought"2  or  are  they 
who  send  such  presents  ?  But  in  cheap  vessels  is  a 
double  advantage :  these  embossed  cups  attract  no 
thief,  Flaccus,  and  they  are  not  cracked  by  water 
too  hot.  What  of  this,  too,  that  the  attendant  is 
not  nervous  while  a  guest*drinks,  and  shaky  hands 
do  not  fear  a  slip  ?  This,  also,  is  something :  you 
will  drink  a  health  in  these  vessels,  Flaccus,  if  you 
have  to  break  the  cup  afterwards.3 

LXXV 

FOI.YTIMUS  hurries  off  to  girls,  Hypnus  unwillingly 
confesses  that  he  is  a  boy,  Secundus  has  buttocks 
yard-fed,4  Dindymus  is  effeminate  but  wishes  not 
to  seem  so,  Amphiort  might  have  been  born  a  girl. 
The  caprice  of  these  boys,  and  their  haughtiness, 
and  their  querulous  disdain,  1  prefer,  Avitus,  to  five 
times  two  hundred  thousand  sesterces  of  dower. 


LXXVI 

A  FLAGON  of  wine  is  sold  for  twenty  pence,  a  peck 
of  corn  for  four.  The  husbandman  is  drunk  and 
overfed,  but  has  nothing.5 

3  As  having  been  defiled  by  impure  lips  :    cf.  II.  xv.  and 
Anth.  Pal.  xi.  39. 

4  There  is  a  play  in  the  Latin  on  glande.     The  metaphor 
is   taken   from   the  feeding  of  hogs  on  acorns.     As  to  the 
ambiguous  meaning  of  "yard,"  cf.  Shak.  L.L.L.  v.  ii.  676. 

5  Things  are  so  cheap  it  does  not  pay  to  sell. 

373 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

LXXVII 

MULTIS  'dum  precibus  lovem  salutat 

stans  summos  resupinus  usque  in  ungues 

Aethon  in  Capitolio,  pepedit. 

riserunt  homines,  sed  ipse  divom 

offensus  genitor  trinoctiali  5 

adfecit  domicenio  clientem. 

post  hoc  flagitium  misellus  Aethon, 

cum  vult  in  Capit^iium  venire, 

sellas  ante  petit  Paterclianas 

et  pedit  deciesque  viciesque.  10 

sed  quamvis  sibi  caverit  crepando, 

compressis  natibus  lovem  salutat. 

LXXVIII 

NIL  in  te  scripsi,  Bithynice.     credere  non  vis 
et  iurare  iubes  ?     malo  satisfacere. 

LXXIX 

DONAVI  tibi  multa  quae  rogasti ; 
donavi  tibi  plura  quam  rogasti : 
non  cessas  tamen  usque  me  rogare. 
quisquis  nil  negat,  Atticilla,  fellat. 

LXXX 

NE  laudet  dignos,  laudat  Callistratus  omnes. 
cui  malus  est  nemo,  quis  bonus  esse  potest  ? 

1  Aethon  was  a  parasite,  to  whom  "  dining  at  home  "  was 
a  penalty. 

2  A  plaintiff  was  entitled  by  Roman  law  to  challenge  the 
defendant  to  take  an  oath  as  to  the  justice  of  his  own  case, 
refusal  being  treated  as  tantamount  to  an  admission  of  the 

374 


BOOK    XII.  LXXVII-LXXX 

LXXVII 

WHILE  with  many  prayers  he  addressed  Jupiter, 
standing  all  the  time,  with  eyes  upturned,  on  the 
tips  of  his  toes,  Aethon  in  the  Capitol  broke  wind. 
Men  laughed,  but  the  Father  of  the  Gods  himself 
was  offended,  and  amerced  his  client  in  domiciliary 
dinners  for  three  nights.1  After  this  outrage 
wretched  Aethon,  when  he  is  minded  to  enter  the 
Capitol,  makes  beforehand  for  Paterclius'  latrines, 
and  lets  off  his  piece  ten  and  twenty  times.  But/ 
however  much  he  has  taken  precautions  by  this  crepi- 
tation, 'tis  with  constricted  buttocks  he  addresses 
Jove  ! 

LXXVIII 

I  WROTE  nothing  against  you,  Bithynicus.  Do  you 
refuse  to  believe  me,  and  require  me  to  swear  ?  I 
prefer  to  pay  the  debt.2 

LXXIX 

I  HAVE  given  you  much  you  asked ;  I  have  given 
you  more  than  you  asked ;  yet  you  do  not  cease 
continually  to  ask  me.  He  who  refuses  nothing, 
Atticilla,  is  capable  of  anything. 

LXXX 

To  avoid  praising  jthe  worthy,  Callistratus  praises 
everybody.  Who  can  be  good  in  his  eyes  to  whom 
no  man  is  bad  ? 

plaintiff's  claim.  Hence  the  oath  was  called  jusjurandum 
necessarium.  Thus  a  debtor  must  deny  the  debt  or  pay  it. 
M.  being  challenged  by  B.  says  that  he  prefers  to  discharge 
what  he  regards  as  an  obligation,  i.e.  to  write  an  offensive 
epigram. 

375 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXXI 

BRUMAE  diebus  feriisque  Saturni 
mittebat  Umber  aliculam  mihi  pauper ; 
nunc  mittit  alicam  :  factus  est  enim  dives. 

LXXXII 

EFFUGERE  in  thermis  et  circa  balnea  non  est 

Menogenen,  omni  tu  licet  arte  velis. 
captabit  tepidum  dextra  laevaque  trigonem, 

inputet  exceptas  ut  tibi  saepe  pilas. 
colligit  et  referet  laxum  de  pulvere  follem,  5 

et  si  iam  lotus,  iam  soleatus  erit. 
lintea  si  sumes,  nive  candidiora  loquetur, 

sint  licet  infantis  sordidiora  sinu. 
exiguos  secto  comentem  dente  capillos 

dicet  Achilleas  disposuisse  comas.  10 

fumosae  feret  ipse  tropin  l  de  faece  lagonae, 

frontis  et  umorem  colligit  ille  tuae. 
omnia  laudabit,  mirabitur  omnia,  donee 

perpessus  dicas  taedia  mille  "  Veni !  " 

Lxxxm 

DERISOR  Fabianus  hirnearum, 
omnes  quern  modo  colei  timebant 

1  tropin  $-,  propin  codd. 

The  point  of  the  epigram  is  that  alicula,  the  first  gift,  is 
in  form  a  diminutive  of  alica,  the  second  (barley  water  : 
cf.  xiii.  6),  whereas  in  fact  alica  is  a  smaller  gift  than  alicula. 

Trigon  was  a  game  of  handball  played  by  three  standing 

176 


BOOK*  XII.  I.XXXI-LXXXIII 

LXXX1 

IN  the  days  of  winter  and  at  the  feast  of  Saturn, 
Umber  used  to  send  me  a  cape  :  he  was  poor.  Now 
he  sends  me  capers :  for  he  has  become  rich.1 

LXXXII 

To  escape  Menogenes  in  the  warm  baths  and  about 
the  baths  is  impossible,  try  what  artifice  you  will.  He 
will  grab  the  warm  hand-ball  with  right  and  left, 
that  he  may  be  able  often  to  score  to  your  account 
the  balls  he  catches.2  He  picks  up  and  will  restore 
to  you  the  flaccid  bladder-ball  from  the  dust,  even  if 
he  has  already  bathed,  is  already  in  his  dinner  slip- 
pers. If  you  take  your  towels,  he  will  speak  of 
them  as  whiter  than  snow,  although  they  are  dirtier 
than  an  infant's  bib.  While  you  are  arranging  with 
a  comb  your  scanty  hairs,  he  will  say  these  are 
Achilles'  locks  that  you  have  ordered.  He  will  with 
his  own  hands  bring  you  the  dregs  from  the  bottom 
of  the  smoky  wine-jar,3  and  he  wipes  the  moisture 
on  your  brow.  Everything  he  will  praise,  will  ad- 
mire everything,  until,  having  endured  to  the  end  a 
thousand  boredoms,  you  say  "Come  and  dine." 

LXXXIII 

FABIANUS,  who  derided  hernia,  whom  of  late  all 
lewd  fellows  dreaded,4  when  he  inveighed  against 

in  a  triangle  :  cf.  iv.  xix.  7.  M.  scores  his  own  catches  to 
Martial.  But  the  meaning  of  1.  4  is  very  uncertain. 

8  Perhaps  to  be  used  as  an  emetic  before  dinner :  cf.  Sen. 
Ad  Helv.  x.  3  ;  or  as  a  detergent  of  the  skin.  The  line  may, 
however,  mean  "  will  put  up  with  the  dregs  for  himself." 

4  Possibly  his  rivals  in  amours"  whom  he  stigmatised  as 
diseased. 

377 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF   MARTIAL 

dicentem  tumidas  in  hydrocelas 
quantum  nee  duo  dicerent  Catulli, 
in  thermis  subito  Neronianis  5 

•  vidit  se  miser  et  tacere  coepit. 

LXXXIV 

NOLUERAM,  Poly  time,  tuos  violate  capillos, 
sed  iuvat  hoc  precibus  me  tribuisse  tuis. 

talis  eras,  modo  tonse  Pelops,  positisque  nitebas 
crinibus  ut  totum  sponsa  videret  ebur. 

LXXXV 

PEDICONIBUS  os  olere  dicis. 

hoc  si,  sicut  ais,  Fabulle,  verum  est, 

quid  tu  credis  olere  cunnilingis  ? 

LXXXVI 

TIUGINTA  tibi  sunt  pueri  totidemque  puellae : 
una  est  nee  surgit  mentula.     quid  facies  ? 

LXXXVII 

Bis  Cotta  soleas  perdidisse  se  questus, 

dum  neglegentem  ducit  ad  pedes  vernam, 

qui  solus  inopi  praestat  et  facit  turbam, 

excogitavit  homo  sagax  et  astutus 

ne  facere  posset  tale  saepius  damnum  :  5 

excalceatus  ire  coepit  ad  cenam. 

A  writer  of  mimes :  cf.  v.  xxxi.  3. 

Now   his  hair    is    cut   Polytinnjs'    akin  'will   be   seen, 

378 


BOOK    XII.  LXXXIII— LXXXVII 

swelling  ruptures  in  tones  even  two  Catulluses l 
could  not  match,  suddenly  beheld  himself — wretched 
fellow ! — in  Nero's  warm  baths,  and  began  to  hold 
his  tongue. 

LXXXIV 

I  WAS  loth,  Polytimus,  to  mar  those  locks  of  thine, 
but  glad  am  I  to  have  granted  that  much  to  thy 
prayers.  Such  wert  thou,  O  Pelops  lately  shorn,  and 
thus,  when  thy  hair  was  laid  aside,  didst  thou  shine, 
so  that  thy  spouse  saw  all  the  ivory  of  thy  shoulder.2 

LXXXV 

You  say  that  the  breath  of  unnatural  rascals  smells. 
If  this  be,  as  you  say,  true,  Fabullus,  what  do  you 
imagine  is  the  smell  of  some  others  ? 

LXXXVI 

Tu  hai  trenta  ragazzi,  ed  altre  tante  ragazze :  la 
mentola  non  e  che  una,  ne  si  rizza.  Che  farai  ? 

LXXXVII 

COTTA,  after  complaining  that  he  had  twice  lost 
his  house-shoes  while  he  brought  with  him  a  careless 
attendant,  the  only  slave  that  serves  for  and  makes 
up  his  staff,  thought  out — sagacious  and  acute  man ! 
—how  to  avoid  such  a  loss  too  often.  He  now  goes 
out  to  dine  without  outdoor  shoes  !  3 

as  white  as  the  shoulder  of  Pelops,  which  was  made  of 
ivory. 

*  i.e.  barefoot.  He  has  in  fact  neither  indoor  nor  outdoor 
shoes. 

379 


,      THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXXVHI 

TorioiLiANus  habet  nasum,  scio,  non  nego.1    sed  iam 
nil  praeter  nasum  Tongilianus  habet. 

LXXXIX 

QUOD  lana  caput  alligas,  Charine, 
non  aures  tibi  sed  dolent  capilli. 

xc    . 

PRO  sene,  sed  clare,  votum  Maro  fecit  amico, 
cui  gravis  et  fervens  hemitritaeos  erat, 

si  Stygias  aeger  non  esset  missus  ad  umbras, 
ut  caderet  magno  victima  grata  lovi. 

coeperunt  certain  medici  spondere  salutem.  5 

ne  votum  solvat  nunc  Maro  vota  facit. 

XCI 

COMMUNIS  tibi  cum  viro,  Magulla, 
cum  sit  lectulus  et  sit  exoletus, 
quare,  die  mihi,  non  sit  et  minister, 
suspiras  ;  ratio  est,  times  lagonam. 

XCII 

SAEPE  rogare  soles  qualis  sim,  Prisce,  futurus, 
si  fiam  locuples  simque  repente  potens. 

quemquam  posse  putas  mores  narrare  futures  ? 
die  mihi,  si  fias  tu  leo,  qualis  eris  ? 

1  non  nego  $-,  non  ego  codd. 

1  He  is  all  nose,  i.e.  critic  and  nothing  else :  cf.  xm.  ii.  2. 

2  C.  swathes  his  head  really  to  conceal  his  baldness. 

380 


BOOK   XII.  Lxxxviti-xcii 

LXXXVIH 

TONGILIANUS  has  a  nose  :  I  know,  I  don't  deny  it. 
But  now  Torigilianus  has  nothing  but  a  nose.1 

LXXXIX 

You  swathe  your  head  in  wool,  Charinus ;  but  it 
is  not  with  your  ears  that  it  goes  sadly,  but  with 
your  hair.2 

xc 

FOR  his  old  friend,  ill  of  a  severe  and  burning 
semi-tertian  fever,  Maro — and  aloud  a — made  a  vow 
that,  if  the  sick  man  were  not  sent  down  to  the 
Stygian  shades,  there  should  die  a  victim  welcome 
to  mighty  Jove.  The  doctors  begin  to  guarantee 
a  certain  recovery.  Maro  now  makes  vows  not  to 
pay  his  vow. 

XCI 

ALTHOUGH,  Magulla,  you  have  a  couch,  and  have  a 
concubine  in  commpn  with  your  husband,  tell  me 
why  you  have  not  ^  cupbearer  also.  You  sigh  :  the 
reason  is,  you  fear  the  wine-cup.4 

XCII 

You  are  often  wont  to  ask  me  what  sort  of  person 
I  should  be,  Priscus,  if  I  became  rich  and  were  sud- 
denly powerful.  Do  you  think  any  man  can  declare 
his  character  in  future  ?  Tell  me,  if  you  became  a 
lion,  what  sort  of  lion  will  you  be  ? 

3  i.e.  that  it  should  be  reported  to  the  sick  man  (Maro  was 
a  captator)  ;  or  perhaps  this  was  his  public  vow,  his  real  vow 
for  the  patient's  death  being  under  his  breath  :  cf.  Pers.  ii.  8  ; 
Juv.  xii.  98.  4  i.e.  poison. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XCIII 

QUA  moeehum  ratione  basiaret 

coram  coniuge  repperit  Labulla. 

parvum  basiat  usque  morionem  ; 

hunc  multis  rapit  osculis  madentem 

moechus  protinus  et  suis  repletum  5 

ridenti  dominae  statim  remittit. 

quanto  morio  maior  est  maritus ! 

XCIV 

SCHIBEBAMUS  epos  ;  coepisti  scribere  :  cessi, 

aemula  ne  starent  carmina  nostra  tuis. 
transtulit  ad  tragicos  se  nostra  Thalia  cothurnos : 

aptasti  longum  tu  quoque  syrma  tibi. 
fila  lyrae  movi  Calabris  exculta  Camenis :  5 

plectra  rapis  nobis,  ambitiose,  nova, 
audemus  saturas  :  Lucilius  esse  laboras. 

ludo  levis  elegos  :  tu  quoque  ludis  idem, 
quid  minus  esse  potest  ?    epigrammata  fingere  coepi : 

hinc  etiam  petitur  iam  mea  pakna  tibi.  10 

elige  quid  nolis  (quis  enim  pudor  omnia  velle  ?) 

et  si  quid  non  vis,  Tucca,  relinque  mihi. 

XCV 

MUSAEI  pathicissimos  libellos, 
qui  certant  Sybariticis  libellis, 


1  By  Horace,  who  however  was  not  born  in  Calabria  :  cf. 
vni.  xviii.  5. 

2  The  instrument  with  which  the  strings  of  the  lyre  were 
struck 

3  The  father  of  Roman  satire. 

382 


BOOK    XII.  xcm-xcv 

XCIII 

LABULLA  has  discovered  how  to  kiss  her  lover 
in  the  presence  of  her  husband.  She  gives  repeated 
kisses  to  her  dwarf  fool ;  this  creature,  slobbered 
with  many  kisses,  the  lover  at  once  pounces  upon, 
fills  him  up  with  his  own  kisses,  and  hands  him  back 
to  the  smiling  lady.  How  much  bigger  as  a  fool  is 
the  husband ! 

XCIV 

I  WAS  writing  an  epic ;  you  began  to  write  one : 
1  left  off,  that  my  poems  should  not  stand  in  rivalry 
with  yours.  My  Thalia  shifted  to  tragic  buskins : 
you  also  fitted  on  yourself  the  long  train  of  tragedy. 
I  struck  the  strings  of  a  lyre  practised  by  the  Cala- 
brian  Muses : l  you,  ambitious  man,  snatch  from  me 
the  new  quill.2  I  venture  satire :  you  strain  to  be 
a  Lucilius.3  I  sport  with  light  elegies :  you,  too, 
sport  with  the  same  thing.  What  lesser  art  can  there 
be  ?  I  begin  to  model  epigrams  :  in  this  quarter,  too, 
my  fame  is  already  sought  after  by  you.  Pick  out 
something  you  do  not  want— for  what  modesty  is 
there  in  wanting  everything  ? — and  if  there  is  any- 
thing you  don't  want,  Tucca,  leave  it  to  me. 

XCV 

LEGGI,  O  Istantio  Rufo,  i  paticissimi  libelli  di 
Museo  che  garreggiano  coi  Sibaritici  libelli,4  e  le 

4  By  Hemitheon,  "a  Sybarite  of  the  vilest  character,"  and 
the  author  of  an  obscene  work,  a  text-book  of  vice,  probably 
called  Sybaritis.  '  He  is  called  by  Lucian  6  itivaiSos  (adv.  In- 
doctum,  c.  23),  and  is  probably  alluded  to  by  Ovid  (Trist.  ii. 
417).  If  there  the  reading  "  nuper"  be  correct,  H.  flourished 
not  long  before  Ovid. 

383 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

et  tinctas  sale  pruriente  chartas 

Instanti  lege  Rufe  ;  sed  puella 

sit  tecum  tua,  ne  thalassionem  5 

indicas  manibus  libidinosis 

et  fias  sine  femina  maritus. 

XCVI 

CUM  tibi  nota  tui  sit  vita  fidesque  mariti 

nee  premat  ulla  tuos  sollicitetve  torps, 
quid  quasi  paelicibus  torqueris  inepta  ministris, 

in  quibus  et  brevis  est  et  fugitiva  Venus  ? 
plus  tibi  quam  domino  pueros  praestare  probabo  :      5 

hi  faciunt  u^  sis  femina  sola  viro  ; 
hi  dant  quod  non  vis  uxor  dare.    "  Do  tamen  "  inquis 

"ne  vagus  a  thalamis  coniugis  erret  amor." 
non  eadem  res  est :  Chiam  volo,  nolo  mariscam  : 

ne  dubites  quae  sit  Chia,  marisca  tua  est.  10 

scire  suos  fines  matrona  et  femina  debet : 

cede  sua  pueris,  utere  parte  tua. 

XCVII 

UXOR  cum  tibi  sit  puella  qualem 

votis  vix  petat  inprobus  maritus, 

dives  nobilis  erudita  casta, 

rumpis,  Basse,  latus,  sed  in  comatis, 

uxoris  tibi  dote  quos  parasti.  5 

et  sic  ad  dominam  reversa  languet 

multis  mentula  milibus  redempta  ; 

sed  nee  vocibus  excitata  blandis, 

molli  pollice  nee  rogata  surgit. 

sit  tandem  pudor  aut  eamus  in  ius.  '    10 

non  est  haec  tua,  Basse  :  vendidisti. 

384 


BOOK    XII.  xcv-xcvn 

carte  asperse  di  sale  solleticante ;  ma  la  tua  ragazza 
sia  teco,  affinche  tu  non  public!  Talassione  alle  mani 
libidinose,1  e  diventi  marito  senza  donna. 


XCVI 

ESSENDO  la  vita  e  la  fedelta  del  tuo  marito  a  te 
nota,  e  veruna  premendo  o  sollicitando  il  tuo  talamo, 
a  che,  sciocca,  ti  tormenti  tu  dei  servi  come  di  con- 
cubine, coi  quali  il  piacere  di  venere  e  breve  e  fuggi- 
tivo  ?  Ti  proveri)  che  i  ragazzi  giovano  piii  a  te  che 
al  loro  padrone :  questi  son  la  cagione  che  tu  sola 
sii  moglie  al  tuo  marito  ;  essi  danno  cio  che  tu,  come 
moglie,  non  vuoi  dare.  "  Peraltro  il  do,"  di  tu,  "af- 
finche 1'amore  non  travii  incostante  dai  talami  con- 
jugali."  Non  e  la  stessa  cosa  :  voglio  una  Chia,  non 
voglia  una  marisca.2  Affinche  non  dubbiti  cosa  sia 
una  Chia,  la  tua  e  una  Marisca.  Una  matrona  deve 
sapere  i  suoi  limiti,  ed  una  femina  i  suoi.  Cedi  ai 
ragazzi  la  loro  parte  :  tu  fa  uso  della  tua. 

XCVII 

ANCORCHE  tua  moglie  sia  una  pulcella  quale  un' 
improbo  marito  appena  dimandarebbe,  ricca,  nobile, 
erudita,  casta,  tu,  O  Basso,  ti  rompi  i  lati,  ma  in  Cin- 
cinnati, che  ti  procacciasti  colla  dote  della  tua  moglie. 
E  cosi  la  tua  mentola,  comparata  con  molti  milliaja, 
sul  ritorno  alia  padrona  e  fiacca ;  si ;  ne  eccitata  con 
dolci  parole,  ne  pregata  con  tenera  niano,  surge. 
Vergognati  finalmente,  o  andiamo  in  judicio.  Questa 
mentola  non  e  tua,  O  Basso :  tu  Thai  venduto.1. 

1  cf.  ix.  xli.          *  cf.  vn.  xxv.  7,  8. 

3  i.e.  to  your  wife  at  the  price  of  her  dower. 

385 

VOL.   II.  c    c 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XCVIII 

BAETIS  olivifera  crinem  redimite  corona, 

aurea  qui  nitidis  vellera  tinguis  aquis ; 
quern  Bromius,  quern  Pallas  amat;  cui  rector  aquarum 

Albula  navigerum  per  freta  pandit  iter : 
ominibus  laetis  vestras  Instantius  oras  5 

intret,  et  hie  populis  ut  prior  annus  eat. 
non  ignorat  onus  quod  sit  succedere  Macro ; 

qui  sua  metitur  pondera,  ferre  potest. 

1  The  Guadalquiver.  2  cf.  v.  xxxvii.  7  ;  ix.  Ixi.  3. 

8  Bacchus.     The  province  of  Baetica  abounds  in  wine  and 
oil. 


386 


BOOK   XII.  xcvin 

XCVIII 

BAETis,1  with  thy  hair  wreathed  with  the  olive 
crown,  that  dippest  thy  golden  2  fleeces  in  sparkling 
waters,  whom  Bromius,3  whom  Pallas  loves,  to  whom 
the  king  of  waters,  Albula,4  opens  a  path  that  wafts 
the  ships  over  the  seas,  with  glad  omens  may  In- 
stantius5  first  tread  thy  shores,  and  this  year  pass 
for  the  peoples  as  the  last.  He  is  not  blind  to  the 
burthen  of  succeeding  Macer :  he  that  gauges  his 
load  can  bear  it. 

4  An  old  name  of  the  Tiber  :  Ov.  F.  ii.  389. 

5  Perhaps  the  same  as  is  mentioned  in  vni.  Ixxiii.  1  and 
vni.  li.  21. 


387 
c  c  2 


BOOK   XIII 


[LIBER   TERTIUS   DECIMUS] 
XENIA 


NE  toga  cordylis  et  paenula  desit  olivis 

aut  inopem  metuat  sordida  blatta  famem, 
perdite  Niliacas,  Musae,  mea  damna,  papyros  : 

postulat  ecce  novos  ebria  bruma  sales, 
non  mea  magnanimo  depugnat  tessera  telo,1  5 

senio  nee  nostrum  cum  cane  quassat  ebur : 
haec  mihi  charta  nuces,  haec  est  mihi  charta  fritillus : 

alea  nee  damnum  nee  facit  ista  lucrum. 

II 

NASUTUS  sis  usque  licet,  sis  denique  nasus, 
quantum  noluerat  ferre  rogatus  Atlans, 

et  possis  ipsum  tu  deridere  Latinum, 
non  potes  in  nugas  dicere  plura  meas 

ipse  ego  quam  dixi.     quid  dentem  dente  iuvabit       5 
rodere  ?     carne  opus  est,  si  satur  esse  velis. 

1  talo  By. 

1  i.e.  wrappers :  cf.  m.  ii.  4 ;  iv.  Ixxxvi.  8. 
-  Often  used  to  gamble  with,  especially  by  boys  :  cf.  \. 
Ixxxiv.  1. 

39° 


BOOK    XIII 
GUEST-GIFTS 


THAT  tunny- fry  may  not  lack  a  gown,  and  olives 
a  capote,1  nor  the  foul  black  beetle  fear  pinching 
hunger,  destroy,  ye  Muses — the  loss  is  mine — 
papyrus  from  the  Nile  :  see  tipsy  winter  calls  for 
new  pleasantries.  No  die  of  mine  contends  with 
dauntless  weapon,  nor  does  sice  together  with  ace 
shake  my  ivory  box :  this  paper  is  my  nuts,2  this 
paper  is  my  dice-box ;  hazard  that  brings  me  no 
loss  nor  yet  any  gain. 


ALTHOUGH  you  have  always  a  critic's  nose,  are  in  a 
word  a  nose  so  great  that  Atlas 3  on  request  would 
not  have  consented  to  shoulder  it,  and  though  you 
can  deride  even  Latinus*  himself,  you  cannot  say 
more  against  my  trifling  effusions  than  I  have  said 
myself.  What  pleasure  is  there  in  tooth  gnawing 
tooth  ?  °  you  require  flesh  if  you  want  to  be  fat. 

3  Who  bore  the  weight  of  heaven. 

4  A  celebrated  mime  or  comic  actor  :  cf.  ix.  xxviii. 

5  i.e.    something   that   can   retort'/     Or   (perhaps)    "why 
gnaw  something  that  cannot  be  hurt,  like  the  viper  in  Aesop 
that  gnawed  a  file  ?" 

391 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

ne  perdas  operam,  qui  se  mirantur,  in  fllos 
virus  habe ;  nos  haec  novimus  esse  nihil. 

non  tamen  hoc  nimium  nihil  est,  si  Candidas  aure 
nee  matutina  si  mihi  fronte  venis.  10 


III 

OMNIS  in  hoc  gracili  XENIORUM  turba  libello 

constabit  numtnis  quattuor  empta  tibi. 
quattuor  est  nimium  ?     poterit  constare  duobus, 

et  faciat  lucrum  bybliopola  Tryphon. 
haec  licet  hospitibus  pro  munere  disticha  mittas, 

si  tibi  tarn  rarus  quam  mihi  nummus  erit. 
addita  per  titulos  sua  nomina  rebus  habebis  : 

praetereas,  si  quid  non  facit  ad  stomachum. 

IV.— Tus 

SERUS  ut  aetheriae  Germanicus  imperet  aulae 
utque  diu  terris,  da  pia  tura  lovi. 


V.—  Piper 

CEREA  quae  patulo  lucet  ficedula  lumbo, 
cum  tibi  sorte  datur,  si  sapis,  adde  piper. 


VI.— Alica 

Nos  alicam,  poterit  mulsum  tibi  mittere  dives, 
si  tibi  noluerit  mittere  dives,  ernes.1 

1  erne  y. 

1  i.  e.  too  sober. 
392 


BOOK    XIII.  n-vi 

Lest  you  should  waste  your  time,  keep  your  venom 
for  those  that  fancy  themselves  ;  I  know  these  efforts 
of  mine  are  nothing  worth.  And  yet  not  altogether 
nothing  if  you  come  to  me  with  a  just  ear,  and  not 
with  a  morning l  aspect. 

Ill 

THE  whole  collection  of  Mottoes  2  in  this  slender 
little  volume  will  cost  you  to  buy  four  sesterces.  Is 
four  too  much  ?  it  can  cost  you  two,  and  bookseller 
Tryphon  would  make  his  profit.  These  distichs  you 
can  send  to  your  guests  instead  of  a  gift,  if  a  coin 
shall  be  as  rare  with  you  as  with  me.  In  addition 
you  will  get  the  names  of  the  things  on  the  headings : 
pass  it  by  if  anything  is  not  to  your  stomach. 

IV. — Incense 

TH'AT  it  may  be  late  ere  Germanicus  rule  the 
palace  of  Heaven,  and  that  he  may  long  rule  earth, 
give  pious  incense  to  Jove. 

V. — Pepper 

WHEN  a  beccafico,  with  its  bright  waxen  flesh  and 
plump  sides,  falls  to  you  by  lot,  if  you  have  taste, 
add  pepper. 

VI.  — Barley-water 

I  CAN  send  you  barley-water,3  a  rich  man  will  be 
able  to  send  you  mead.  If  the  rich  man  be  unwilling 
to  send  it,  you  will  buy. 

2  Lit.  Xenia  (gifts  to  gueats).     M.  means  here  the  headed 
distichs,  which  were  like  the  mottoes  on  Christmas  crackers. 
8  A  cheap  drink  :  cf.  xn.  Ixxxi,  3. 

393 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

VII.— Faba 

Si  spumet  rubra  conchis  tibi  pallida  testa, 
lautorum  cenis  saepe  negare  potes. 

VIII.— Far 

INBUE  plebeias  Clusinis  pultibus  ollas, 
ut  satur  in  vacuis  dulcia  musta  bibas. 


IX.— Lens 

ACCIPE  Niliacam,  Pelusia  munera,  lentem  : 
vilior  est  alica,  carior  ilia  faba. 

X. — Simula 

NEC  dotes  simulae  possis  numerare  nee  usus, 
pistori  totiens  cum  sit  et  apta  coco. 

XL — Hordeum 

Muuo  quod  noil  det  tacit uris,  accipe,  mulis. 
haec  ego  coponi,  non  tibi,  dona  dedi. 

XII. — Frumentum 

TER  centum  Libyci  modios  de  messe  coloni 
sume,  suburbanus  ne  moriatur  ager. 


1  "  You  will  get  such  a  go<jl  dinner  at  home." 

2  Pulse  was  probably  supposed  to  ripen  new  wine. 

3  Celebrated  for  its  lentils  :  Verg.  Georg.  i.  228. 


BOOK    XIII.  vii-xn 

VII.— Beans 

IF  pale  beans  bubble  for  you  in  a  red  earthenware 
pot  you  can  often  decline  the  dinners  of  sumptuous 
hosts.1 

VIII.— Spelt 

FLAVOUR  common  jars  with  pulse  from  Clusium, 
that,  after  dinner,  you  may  drink  from  them,  when 
empty,  new  wine.2 

IX. — Lentils 

RECEIVE  lentils  of  Nile,  a  present  from  Pelusium  3  ; 
they  are  cheaper  than  spelt,  dearer  than  beans. 

X.— Flow 

ONE  cannot  enumerate  the  properties  or  the  uses 
of  flour,  seeing  that  it  is  so  often  handy  for  the 
baker  and  the  cook. 

XI. — Barley 

RECEIVE  something  for  your  muleteer  to  withhold 
from  your  mules  that  will  not  blab.  I  have  given 
this  to  the  inn-keeper,  not  to  you,4  as  a  gift. 

XII. — Corn 

TAKE  three  hundred  pecks  from  the  harvest  of 
the  Libyan  farmer,  that  your  suburban  land  may 
not  grow  sterile.5 

4  The  muleteer  steals  the  barley  and  sells  it  to  the  inn- 
keeper. , 

5  By  being  over-cropped,  and   not  allowed   to  lie  fallow. 
This  gift  of  Libyan  corn  will  maintain  the  farmer  for  a  time. 

395 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

Xlll.—Betae 

UT  sapiant  fatuae,  fabrorum  prandia,  betae, 
o  quam  saepe  petet  vina  piperque  cocus ! 

XIV. — Lactucae 

CLUOERE  quae  cenas  lactuca  solebat  avorum, 
die  mihi,  cur  nostras  inchoat  ilia  dapes  ? 

XV. — Ligna  Acapna 

Si  vicina  tibi  Nomento  rura  coluntur, 
ad  villam  moneo,  rustice,  ligna  feras. 

XVI.— Rapa 

HAEC  tibi  brumali  gaudentia  frigore  rapa 
quae  damus,  in  caelo  Romulus  esse  solet. 

XVII. — Fastis  CoticuU 

NE  tibi  pallentes  moveant  fastidia  caules, 
nitrata  viridis  brassica  fiat  aqua. 

XVIII.— Porn  Sectivi 

FILA  Tarentini  graviter  redolentia  porri 
edisti  quotiens,  oscula  clusa  dato. 


1  cf.  xi.  lii.  5,  where  M.  gives  the  reason. 

2  Situated  in  a  marshy  district,  where  the  wood  would  be 
wet  and  not  smokeless.     Wood  was  also  made  smokeless  by 
special  treatment,  viz.  soaking  in  water  and  drying,  or  in 
the  lees  of  oil  (Plin.  N.H.  xv.  8),  or  by  scorching. 

3  The  deified  Romulus  retains  his  simple  tastes  in  Heaven : 

396 


BOOK    XIII.  xiii-xviii 

XIII.— Beet 

THAT  insipid  beet,  the  noon-meal  of  artizans,  may 
acquire  flavour,  oh,  how  often  will  the  cook  ask  for 
wine  and  pepper ! 

XIV.— Lettuce 

TELL  me,  why  is  it  that  lettuce,  which  used 
to  end  our  grandsires'  dinners,  ushers  in l  our 
banquets  ? 

XV. — Smokeless  JVood 

IF  you  till  fields  near  to  me  at  Nomeiitum,2  I 
remind  you,  rustic,  to  bring  wood  to  my  villa. 

XYL.—Rape 

THESE  rapes,  delighting  in  winter's  cold,  which  I 
give  you,  in  heaven  Romulus  is  wont  to  eat.3 

XVII. — A   Bundle  of  Cabbage  Sprouts 

IN  order  that  pale  sprouts  may  not  move  your 
disgust,  let  the  cabbage  become  green  in  water  and 
soda. 

XVIII. —Cut  Leeks 

As  often  as  you  have  eaten  the  strong-smelling 
shoots4  of  Tarentine  leeks,  give  kisses  with  shut 
mouth. 

<•/.  Sen.  Apoc.  9,  where  Hercules  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  "  to 
the  interest  of  the  state  "  that  R.  should  have  someone  to 
"devour  hot  rape  "  with  him,  and  therefore  that  the  Emperor 
Claudius  should  be  admitted  as  a  God. 

4  i.  e.  porrum  sectivum :  cf.  x.  xlviii.  9.  Nero  ate  them  in 
oil  to  improve  his  voice :  Plin.  N.H.  xix.  33. 

397 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XIX. — Porri  Capitati 

MITTIT  praecipuos  nemoralis  Aricia  porros  : 
in  niveo  virides  stipite  cerne  comas. 

XX. — Napi 

Hos  Amiternus  ager  felicibus  educat  hortis  : 
Nursinas  poteris  parcius  esse  pilas. 


XXI. — Asparagi 

MOLLIS  in  aequorea  quae  crevit  spina  Ravenna 
non  erit  incultis  gratior  asparagis. 


XXII. — Uvae  Duracinae 

NON  habilis  cyathis  et  inutilis  uva  Lyaeo, 
sed  non  potanti  me  tibi  nectar  ero. 


XXIII.— Ficm  Chiae 

CHIA  seni  similis  Baccho,  quern  Setia  misit, 
ipsa  merum  secum  portat  et  ipsa  salem. 


1  But,  according  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xix.  33),  the  finest  came 
from  Egypt,  those  from  Ostia  and  Aricia  ranking  next. 

*  The  navew  is  also  called  the  French  turnip  (Nap\ifi 
broasica),  in  Greek  frdfvs  or  ftovviks,  and  has  a  root  elongated 
like  a  carrot.  It  likes  a  sloping  situation,  and  a  light  and 
dry  soil,  whereas  the  ordinary  rape  thrives  in  the  marsh  : 
Col.  ii.  10.  Amiternum  was  famed  for  them,  and  Nursia 
came  second:  Plin.  N.H.  xix.  25. 

3  Which  often  produced  asparagus  of  three  to  the  pound  ; 

398 


BOOK   XIII.  xix-xxm 


XIX. — Headed  Leeks 

WOODY  Aricia  sends  the  finest  leeks  l  :  observe  on 
the  white  stem  the  green  blades. 

XX. — Nnvervs 

THESE  the  land  of  Amiternum  nurtures  in  its 
fertile  gardens ;  the  round  rapes  of  Nursia  you  will 
be  able  to  eat  at  less  cost.2 

XXI. — Asparagus 

THE  succulent  stalk  that  has  grown  in  watery 
Ravenna 3  will  not  be  more  palatable  than  wild 
asparagus. 

XXII. — Hard-skinned  Grapes 

I  AM  a  grape  unfit  for  the  wine-cup  and  worthless 
to  Lyaeus,  but,  if  you  do  not  drink  me,  I  shall  be 
.nectar  to  you.4 

XXni— Chian  Figs 

A  CHIAN  fig  is  like  the  old  wine  Setia  has  sent 
you ;  it  carries  in  itself  new  wine,  and  in  itself 
salt  too.5 

Pliny,  N.H.  xix.  19  (2).  According  to  Athenaeus  (ii.  62)  the 
planted  asparagus  grew  to  a  great  size,  but  the  best  were  not 
the  cultivated.  The  wild  was  called  corruda  :  Plin.  supra. 

4  These  grapes  were  kept  to  be  eaten,  and  not  turned  into 
wine.     They  were   when   eaten    seemingly   very    palatable. 
The  temperate  Augustus  speaks  of  himself  (Suet.  Aug.  Ixxvi). 
as  eating  in  his  litter  an  ounce  of  bread  and  a  few  dnracinae. 

5  The  Chian  fig  was  not  only  pungent  (cf.  vn.  xxv.  8),  but 
also  juicy. 

399 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXIV. — Cydonea 

Si  tibi  Cecropio  saturata  Cydonea  melle 

ponentur,  dicas  :  "  Haec  melimela  placent." 

XXV. — Nuces  Pineae, 

POMA  sumus  Cybeles  :  procul  hinc  discede,  viator, 
ne  cadat  in  miserum  nostra  ruina  caput. 

XXVI— Sorfoi 

SORBA  sumus,  molles  nimium  tendentia  ventres  : 
aptius  haec  puero  quara  tibi  poma  dabis. 

XXVII. — Pelalium  l  Caryotarum 

AUREA  porrigitur  lani  caryota  Kalendis ; 
sed  tamen  hoc  niuhus  pan  peris  esse  solet. 

XXVIII— Vas  Cottanorum 

HAEC  tibi  quae  torta  venerunt  condita  meta, 
si  maiora  forent  cottana,  ficus  erat. 

XXIX. — Vas  Damascenonoii 

PRUNA  peregrinae  carie  rugosa  senectae 
sume  :  solent  duri  solvere  ventris  onus. 

1  petadium  &,  petavivum  T,  palalhion  Salmasius. 


1  As  recommended  by  Pliny  (N.H.  av.  18  (2)). 

2  Because  she  turned  her  favourite  Attis  into  a  fir,  which 
thus  became  sacred  to  her. 

8  i.e.  cinaedo.  Pliny  (N.H.  xxiii.  73)  says  the  dried  berries 
were  astringent.  Wine  was  sometimes  made  of  them  :  Verg. 
Oeorg.  iii.  379. 

400 


HOOK  XIII.  xxiv-xxix 

XXIV. — Quinces 

IF  quinces  steeped  in  Attic  honey l  shall  be  put 
before  you,  you  would  say :  "  These  honey-apples 
are  delicious." 

XXV.— Pine  Cones 

WE  are  Cybele's  apples 2 ;  depart  far  hence,  tra- 
veller, lest  our  downfall  descend  on  your  wretched 
head. 

XXVI. — Service  Berries 

WE  are  service  berries  that  astrict  too  relaxed 
bowels ;  you  will  better  give  these  apples  to  your 
boy  3  than  to  yourself. 

XXVII.— A  Stem  with  Dates 

A  GILT  date  is  offered  on  the  kalends  of  January4; 
but  yet  this  is  wont  to  be  the  gift  of  a  poor  man. 

XXVIII. — A  Jar  of  small  Syrian  Figs 

THESE  Syrian  figs,  which,  stored  in  a  round  conical 
jar,  have  reached  you,  would,  if  larger,5  be  figs. 

XXIX. — A  Jar  of  Damascene  Plums 

TAKE  plums  wrinkled  by  shrivelling  old  age 
abroad 6 :  they  are  used  to  lighten  the  load  of  an 
obstinate  stomach. 

4  By  poor  clients  to  their  patrons  :  cf.  vui.  xxxiii.  11,  12. 

8  Cottana  were  small  figs  from  Syria  :  Plin.  N.H.  xiii.  10  ; 
cf.  iv.  Ixxxviii.  6  and  vn.  liii.  7. 

6  cf.  v.  xviii.  8.  Pliny  (^V.  H.  xv.  12)  says  that  D.  plums 
grown  in  Italy  did  not  shrivel  for  lack  of  sun. 

401 
VOL.   II.  D    I) 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

XXX. — Caseus  Lunensis 

CASEUS  Etruscae  signatus  imagine  Lunae 
praestabit  pueris  prandia  mille  tuis. 

XXXI. — Caseus  Veslinus 

Si  sine  carne  voles  ientacula  sumere  frugi. 
haec  tibi  Vestino  de  grege  massa  venit. 

XXXII. — Caseus  Fumosus 

NON  quemcumque  focum  nee  fumum  caseus  omnem, 
sed  Velabrensem  qui  bibit,  ille  sapit. 

XXXIII. — Casei  Trebulani 

TREBULA  nos  genuit ;  commendat  gratia  duplex, 
sive  levi  flamma  sive  domamur  aqua. 

XXXIV.—  Bulbi 

CUM  sit  anus  coniunx  et  sint  tibi  mortua  membra, 
nil  aliud  bulbis  quam  satur  esse  potes. 

XXXV. — Lucanicae 

FILIA  Picenae  venio  Lucanica  porcae : 
pultibus  hinc  niveis  grata  corona  datur. 

1  Cheeses  were  made  very  large  at  Luna  :  Plin.  N.  H.  xi. 
97,  who  says  they  were  made  of  a  thousand  pounds'  weight. 

z  Vestinian  cheese  was  a  favourite  with  the  Romans.  The 
Vestini  were  in  central  Italy,  between  the  Apennines  and 
the  Adriatic. 

3  A  district  of  Rome  on  the  W.  slope  of  the  Palatine. 
Cheeses  were  smoked  here  to  improve  their  flavour. 

*  A   town   in   the   Sabine   country :    cf.    v.   Ixxi.   1.     The 

402 


BOOK   XIII.  xxx-xxxv 

XXX. — Cheese  from  Luna 

CHEESE,  stamped  with  the  crest  of  Etruscan  Luna, 
will  afford  your  slaves  a  thousand  lunches.1 

XXXI. — A  Vestinian  Cheese 

IF  you  wish  without  meat  to  take  a  frugal  break- 
fast, this  lump  comes  to  you  from  a  Vestinian 2 
flock. 

XXXII. — Smoked  Cheese 

It  is  not  every  heat,  or  every  smoke  that  a  cheese 
imbibes ;  but  that  which  has  imbibed  Velabran  3  has 
flavour. 

XXXIII. — Cheese  from  Trebula 

TREBULA  4  gave  us  birth ;  a  double  excellence  re- 
commends us ;  we  are  tamed  by  a  moderate  fire  or 
by  water. 

XXXIV.— Bulbs 

SINCE  your  wife  is  an  old  woman,  and  your  members 
are  nerveless,  you  can  do  nothing  but  satisfy  your 
hunger  with  bulbs.5 

XXXV. — Lucanian  Sausages 

DAUGHTER  of  a  Picenian  sow,6  here  I  come,  a  Lu- 
canian sausage ;  with  me  you  may  put  a  toothsome 
garnish  round  white  pottage. 

cheese  was  good  to  eat,  whether  toasted,  or  moistened  in 
water. 

5  Bulbs  were  eaten  as  aphrodisiacs  :  cf.  ill.  Ixxv.  3  ; 
Athen.  ii.  64. 

8  cf.  iv.  xlvi.  8  ;  v.  Ixxviii.  9.  According  to  Apicius  (ii.  4) 
the  sausage  was  compounded  of  minced  pork  flavoured  with 
pepper,  cumin,  savory,  rue,  parsley,  and  bay-leaves.  It  was 
called  in  Low  Latin  xalsicia,  whence  the  word  sausage. 

403 
DD    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXXVI. — Cistella  Olivannn 

HAEC  quae  Picenis  venit  subducta  trapetis 
inchoat  atque  eadem  finit  oliva  dapes. 

XXXVII.— Mala  Citrea 

AUT  Corcyraei  sunt  haec  de  frondibus  horti, 
aut  haec  Massyli  poma  draconis  erant. 

X  XX  VIII. — Cohutrum 

SUBRIPUIT  pastor  quae  nondum  stantibus  haedis 
de  primo  matrum  lacte  colustra  damus. 

XXXIX. — Haedus 

LASCIVUM  pecus  et  viridi  non  utile  Baccho 
det  poenas ;  nocuit  iam  tener  ille  deo. 

XL. — Ova 

CANDIDA  si  croceos  circumfluit  unda  vitellos, 
Hesperius  scombri  temperet  ova  liquor. 

XLL— Porcellus  Lactans 

LACTE  mero  pastum  pigrae  mihi  matris  alumnum 
ponat,  et  Aetolo  de  sue  dives  edat. 


1  f/.  i.  xliii.  8. 

2  They  were  either  from    King  Alcinous'  garden  :  cf.   X. 
xciv.  2,  or  were  golden  apples  of  the  Hesperides. 

3  The  first  milk  given  by  the  mother  :  Plin.  N.  H.  xxviii.  33. 

404 


BOOK    XIII.  xxxvi-xu 

XXXVI. — A  Small  Box  of  Olives 

THESE  olives  which  have  reached  you,  withdrawn 
from  the  oil  presses  of  Picenum,1  begin  and  also 
end  our  repasts. 

XXXVII.— Citrons 

THESE  were  either  from  the  branches  of  Corcyra's 
garden,  or  they  were  apples,  the  Massylian  dragon's 
charge.2 

XXXVIII.— Beestings 

BEESTINGS,3  whereof  the  shepherd  has  robbed  the 
kids  while  not  yet  able  to  stand,  I  give  you  from  the 
first  milk  of  the  darns. 

XXXIX.— A  Kid 

LET  the  wanton  beast,  and  one  of  no  service  to 
the  green  vine,  pay  the  penalty ;  though  young,  it 
has  already  injured  the  god.4 

XL.— Eggs 

IF  a  white  liquid  surround  the  saffron-coloured 
yolks,  let  the  sauce  5  of  Spanish  mackerel  season  the 


XLI.-—J  Sucking  Pig 

LET  a  rich  man  set  before  me  the  nursling,  fed  on 
milk  alone,  of  a  lazy  mother,  and  let  him  eat  of  an 
Aetolian  boar.6 

4  Bacchus.  The  kid  lias  nibbled  the  vine.  In  Auth.  Pal. 
x.  75  and  79  the  wounded  vine  retorts.  The  goat  was  a 
victim  sacred  to  Bacchus.  6  i.e.  garum:  cf.  xiu.  cii. 

8  Like  that  slain  by  Meleager  :  cf.  vii.  xxvii.  2. 

405 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 


XLII. — Apyrina  et   Tubures 

NON  tibi  de  Libycis  tubures  et  apyrina  ramis, 
de  Nomentanis  sed  damns  arboribus. 


XLIIL— Idem 

LECTA  suburbanis  mittuntur  apyrina  rainis 
et  vernae  tubures.     quid  tibi  cum  Libycis  ? 


XL1V.— Sumeti 

ESSE  putes  nondum  sunien  ;  sic  ubere  largo 
et  fluit l  et  vivo  lacte  papilla  tumet. 


XLV. — Piil/i 

Si  Libycae  nobis  volucres  et  Phasides  essent, 
acciperes,  at  ntmc  accipe  chortis  aves. 

XL VI.  — Persica  Praecocia  2 

VILIA  maternis  fueramus  Persica  ramis  : 
nunc  in  adoptivis  Persica  cara  sumus. 

1  effluet  By.  -  pruecocta  a,  praecoqiia  y. 

1  According  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xv.  14)  a  kind  of  African  apple, 
or  rather  berry,  of  two  kinds,  one  white,  the  other  red.  At 
Verona  grew  a  variety  called  Janata  from  having  a  down  like 
a  peach. 

-  Pliny  says  (N.H.  xv.  14)  the  tuber-apple  was  introduced 
into  Italy  by  Sextus  Papinius,  "  quern  confident  vidimus," 
i.e.  comparatively  recently.  .Suetonius  (Dom.  xvi, )  tells  a 

406 


BOOK    XIII.  XLH-XLVI 


XLII. — Pomegranates  and  Tuber-apples 

I  DO  not  give  you  tuber-apples l  and  pomegranates 
from  Libyan  boughs,  but  from  my  Nomentan  trees. 


'KLlU.—  Tke  Same 

CULLED  from  suburban  boughs  are  sent  you  pome- 
granates and  home-grown  tuber-apples.2  What  do 
you  want  with  Libyans  ? 

XLIV. — Sow's    Paps 

You  would  think  it  not  yet  a  dish  of  udder,  so  full- 
flowing  is  the  dug,  and  so  does  the  pap  swell  with 
living  milk.3 

XLV.— Fowlt 

IF  I  possessed  guinea-fowls  and  pheasants  you 
should  receive  them  ;  but  now  receive  the  birds  of 
the  farmyard. 

XLVL— Early  Peaches 

OF  little  worth  should  we  peaches  have  been  on 
the  branches  of  our  mother  tree  ;  now  on  adoptive 
boughs  we  peaches  are  prized.4 

story  bow  Dotnitian  on  the  day  before  his  murder,  beiug 
offered  some  tuber  apples,  commanded  their  being  kept  for 
the  morrow,  "  si  modo  uti  licuerit." 

3  The  thing  sent  is  apparently  the  udder  cooked,  which  is 
so  full  of  milk  it  seems  alive. 

4  Friedlander  explains  of  peaches  grafted  on  an  apricot 
(malum  praecox)  tree ;  <•/.  Calp.  ii.  42-,  of  peaches  grafted  on 
a  plum  tree, 

407 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XLVII. — Panes  Picentini 

PICENTINA  Ceres  niveo  sic  nectare  crescit 
ut  levis  accepta  spongea  target  aqua. 

XL  VIII.— Boleti 

ARGENTUM  atque  aurum  facilest  laenamque  togamque 
mittere  ;  boletos  mittere  difficilest. 

XLIX.— Ficedulae 

CUM  me  ficus  alat,  cum  pascar  dulcibus  uvis, 
cur  potius  nomen  non  dedit  uva  mihi  ? 

L. — Terrae   Tuber  a 

RUMPIMUS  altricem  tenero  quae  vertice  terrain 
tubera,  boletis  poma  secunda  sumus. 

LI. — Ttirdo  rum  Decu  ria 

TEXTA  rosis  fortasse  tibi  vel  divite  nardo, 
at  mihi  de  turdis  facta  corona  placet. 

LII. — Anates 

TOTA  quidem  ponatur  anas,  sed  pectore  tantum 
et  cervice  sapit :  cetera  redde  coco. 


1  According  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xviii.  27)  Picenian  bread  was 
made  of  spelt  (alica),  steeped  for  nine  days,  then  mixed  with 
raisin  juice,  and  kneaded  into  the  shape  of  a  spool  of  wool 
(in  speciem  tractae),  and  then  baked.     He  adds  that  it  was 
not  fit  to  eat  till  it  had  been  moistened  with  milk  mixed  with 
honey  (mulsum). 

2  Either  because  they  grow  only  at  certain  seasons  (Fried- 
lander),  or  because  they  are  so  precious  that  one  prefers  to 
eat  them  oneself, 

408 


BOOK    XIII.  XLVII-LII 

XLVII. — Picenian  Loaves 

THE  bread  of  Picenum  grows  big  with  its  white 
nectar  as  a  light  sponge  swells  when  it  has  taken  in 
water.1 

XLVIII. — Mushrooms 

SILVER  and  gold,  and  a  mantle,  and  a  toga  it  is 
easy  to  send ;  to  send  mushrooms  is  difficult.2 

XLIX. — Becca/icos 

SEEING  that  figs  nourish  me,  seeing  that  I  am  fed 
on  sweet  grapes,  why  did  not  the  grape  rather  give 
me  my  name  ?  3 

L. —  Truffles 

WE  truffles  *  that  burst  through  the  nurturing  soil 
with  our  soft  heads  are  of  earth's  apples  second  to 
mushrooms. 

LI. — A  Decade  of  Fieldfares 

A  CIRCLET  woven  of  roses  or  rich  spikenard 
perhaps  pleases  you,  but  one  made  of  fieldfares^ 
pleases  me. 

LIL— Ducks 

LET  a  duck  certainly  be  served  up  whole ;  but  it 
is  tasty  only  in  the  breast  and  neck  :  the  rest  return 
to  the  cook. 

s  "Why  am  I  not  called  uvedula'!'' 

4  In  Greek  vSva.  See  Athen.  ii.  60  and  Plin.  xix.  11. 
They  grow  of  their  own  accord,  particularly  in  dry  and  sandy 
soil.  Pliny  calls  them  "callosities  of  the  earth"  (terrae 
cnllum).  Juvenal  (v.  115)  refers  to  the  fable  (rejected  by 
Plutarch  :  Quaest.  Com-,  iv.  2)  that  truffles  were  produced 
by  thunderstorms. 

8  Fieldfares  were  often  strung  round  a  hoop :  cf.  in. 
xlvii.  10. 

409 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

LIII. — Turtures 

CUM  pinguis  mihi  turtur  erit,  lactuca,  valebis ; 
et  cocleas  tibi  habe.     perdere  nolo  famem. 

LIV.— Perna 

CERRETANA  mihi  fiat  vel  missa  licebit 
de  Menapis  :  lauti  de  petasone  vorent. 

LV.— Petaso 

MUSTEUS  est :  propera,  caros  nee  differ  amicos. 
nam  mihi  cum  vetulo  sit  petasone  nihil. 

LVL—  Voha 

TE  fortasse  magis  capiat  de  virgine  porca ; 
me  materna  gravi  de  sue  volva  capit. 

L  VII. — Cdlocasia 

NILIACUM  ridebis  holus  lanasque  sequaces, 
inproba  cum  morsu  fila  manuque  trahes. 

LVIII. — lecur  Anserinum 

ASPICE  quam  tumeat  magno  iecur  ansere  mains  ! 
miratus  dices  "  Hoc,  rogo,  crevit  ubi  ?  " 

1  By  eating  the  lettuce  and  snails  at  the  gustatio. 
-  Spanish.     The  Cerritani  were  a  people  in  the  Pyrenees, 
celebrated  for  bacon. 

3  A  people  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  near  its  mouth. 

4  cf.    vn.    xx:    11.     There  is   a  long  dissertation   on   the 
subject  in  Ath.  iii.  57  seqq. 

8  cf.  vin.  xxxiii.  13.  Pliny  (N.H.  xxi.  51)  says  it  is  "  caule 

410 


BOOK  XIII.  LIII-LVIII 

LIII.   -Turtle-doves 

WHEN  I  shall  have  a  fat  turtle-dove,  good-bye, 
lettuce  ;  and  keep  the  snails  for  yourself.  I  don't 
want  to  spoil  my  appetite.1 

LIV.  —  Gammon  of  Bacon 

LET  me  have  Cerretanian  2  gammon  served  to  me, 
or  it  may  be  sent  from  the  Menapians3  ;  let  gourmets 
devour  ham. 

LV.—  Ham 

IT  is  freshly  cured  :  make  haste,  and  do  not  put 
off  your  dear  friends  ;  for  let  me  have  nothing  to  do 
with  an  old  ham. 


You  perhaps  the  womb  of  a  virgin  pig  may  allure 
more  :  the  maternal  womb  of  a  pregnant  sow 
allures  me.4 

LVII.  —  Egyptian  Beaux 

You  will  scoff'  at  this  vegetable  from  Nile  and  its 
tenacious  threads  when  with  teeth  and  hands  you 
draw  out  its  stubborn  fibres.6 

LVIII.  —  Goose's  Liver 

SEE  how  the  liver  is  swollen  bigger  than  a  big 
goose  !  In  wonder  you  will  say  :  "  Where,  I  ask, 
did  this  grow  ?  "  6 

araneoso  in  mandeiido,"  i.e.  like  spider's  webs.     Athenaeua 
(iii.  2)  gives  a  long  description  of  it  from  Theophrastus. 

6  Geese  were  fattened  on  figs  by  gourmets  :  Hor.  Sat.  n. 
viii.  88  ;  and  their  livers  grew  to  a  great  size  :  Juv.  v.  114. 
See  generally  Athen.  ix.  32.  The  practice  is  recalled  by  the 
•wordfegato,  Italian  for  liver. 

411 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LIX. — Glires 

TOTA  mihi  dormitur  hiemps  et  pinguior  illo 
tempore  sum  quo  me  nil  nisi  somnus  alit. 

LX. — Cuniculi 

GAUDET  in  effossis  habitare  cuniculus  antris. 
monstravit  tacitas  hostibus  ille  vias. 

LXI. — A  ttagenae 

INTER  sapores  fertur  alitum  prinaus 
lonicarum  gustus  attagenarum. 

LXII. — Gallinae  Altiles 

PASCITUR  et  dulci  facilis  gallina  farina, 
pascitur  et  tenebris.     ingeniosa  gula  est. 

LXIII. — Caponex 

NE  nimis  exhausto  macresceret  inguine  gallus, 
amisit  testes.     mine  mihi  Gallus  erit. 

LXIV.— Idem 

SUCCUMBIT  sterili  frustra  gallina  marito. 
hunc  matris  Cybeles  esse  decebat  avem. 

1  cf.  ill.  Iviii.  36.     Dormice  were  kept  in  pens  (glirarta), 
and,  for  purposes  of  fattening,  even  in  casks :   Varr.  jR.R.  iii 
15.     They  were  fattened  on  beech-nuts  :  Plin.  N.H.  xvi.  7. 

2  Cuniculus  is  also  a  military  term  for  a  mine. 

3  So,   according  to  Pliny,  N.H.   X.  Ixviii.,  who  says  the 
atlcfgen  was  formerly  a  rare  bird,  but  in  his  day  was  found 
in  Gaul  and  Spain  and  in  the  Alps, 

412 


BOOK     XIII.    LIX-I:XtV 


LIX. — Dormice 

ALL  my  winter  is  passed  in  sleep,  and  1  am  fatter 
at  that  season  during  which  nothing  but  sleep 
nourishes  me.1 

LX.— Rabbits 

A  RABBIT  delights  in  dwelling  in  burrowed  holes : 
he  taught  foes  the  art  of  secret  paths.2 

LXI. — Heathcocks 

OK  all  flavours  of  fowls  the  most  tasty  is  said  to  be 
that  of  Ionian  3  heathcocks. 

LXIL—  Fatted  Fowls 

THE  hen  is  easily  fattened  on  sweetened  meal ;  it 
fattens,  too,  on  the  dark.4  Ingenious  is  gluttony ! 

LXIII. — Capons 

THAT  the  cock  might  not  grow  thin  by  over  in- 
dulgence, he  has  been  gelded.  Now  he  will  be  to 
me  a  Gaul.5 

LXIV. — The  Same' 

IN  vain  the  hen  submits  to  her  sterile  husband. 
This  bird  it  beseemed  to  have  been  the  bird  of 

Mother  Cybele.6 

• 

4  Ut  immotae  facile  pinguescant,    in   obscuro  coittinentur : 
Sen.  Ep.  cxxii.  4. 

5  M.  plays  on  the  meanings  of  gallim,  viz.  a  cock,  a  Gaul, 
or  a  priest  of  Cybele.     See  next  epigram. 

6  Whose   priests    were  called  Galli  :    rf.   n.  xlv.  2 ;  vui. 
Ixxv.  16. 

413 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LX  V.  —  Per  dices 

PONITUR  Ausoniis  avis  haec  rarissima  mensis  : 
hanc  in  piscina  ludere  saepe  soles. 

LXVI.  —  Columbinae 

NE  violes  teneras  periuro  dente  columbas, 
tradita  si  Gnidiae  sunt  tibi  sacra  deae. 

LXVIL—  Palumbi 

INGUINA  torquati  tardant  hebetantque  palumbi  : 
non  edat  hanc  volucrem  qui  cupit  esse  salax. 

LXVIIL—  Galbuli 

GAI.BINA  1  decipitur  calamis  et  retibus  ales, 
turget  adhuc  viridi  cum  rudis  uva  mero. 

LXIX.—  Cattae 

PANNONICAS  nobis  numquain  dedit  Umbria  cattas  : 
mavult  haec  domino  2  mittere  dona  Pudens. 

•   LXX.  —  Pavones 

MIRARIS,  quotiens  gemmantis  explicat  alas. 
et  potes  hunc  saevo  tradere,  dure,  coco? 

1  Galbida  y.  -  dominae  &. 

1  No  explanation  of  this  epigram  is  known. 

2  Doves  were  sacred  to  Venus. 

•  *  The  identity  of  the  bird,  here  called  witwall,  is  very 
obscure.  It  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the 
j,  or  vireo,  and  has  been  variously  identified  with  the 


414 


BOOK   XIII.  LXV-LXX 

LX  V.  —  -  Partridges 

THIS  bird  is  very  rarely  served  on  Italian  tables  : 
one  often  sees  it  playing  in  the  fishpond.1 

LXVL—  Doves 

Do  not  violate  with  profane  tooth  tender  doves, 
if  the  rites  of  the  goddess  of  Cnidos2  have  been 
entrusted  to  you. 

LXVII.  —  Wood-pigeons 

RINGDOVES  check  and  blunt  the  manly  powers  :  let 
not  him  eat  this  bird  who  wishes  to  be  lickerish. 


THE  green  bird  3  is  beguiled  by  canes  *  and  nets  at 
the  season  when  the  young  grape  is  swelling  with 
juice  yet  immature. 

LXIX.—  Cattae- 

UMBRIA  has  never  supplied  us  with  Pannonian 
cattae  ;  these  are  the  gifts  Pudens  prefers  to  send 
to  his  lord.5 

LXX.  —  Peacocks 

DOST  thou  admire  it,  oft  as  it  spreads  its  spangled 
wings,  and  hast  the  heart,  unfeeling  man,  to  deliver 
this  bird  to  a  cruel  cook  ? 

golden  oriole  (0.  galbula),  the  greenfinch,  and  the  green 
woodpecker. 

4  Limed  canes  :  rf.  IX.  liv.  3  ;  xiv.  ccxviii. 

8  P.,  who  came  from  Umbria,  preferred  to  send  these  birds, 
which  he  had  reared  in  Umbria,  as  a  present  to  his  patron, 
rather  than  birds  of  his  native  country.  The  caftu  \a 
unknown. 

4'5 


EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 


LXXI.  —  Phoenicopteri 

DAT  inihi  pinna  rubens  iiomen,  sed  lingua  gulosis 
nostra  sapit.     quid  si  garrula  lingua  foret  ? 

LXXII.  —  Phasiani 

ARGOA  primum  sum  transportata  carina  : 
ante  mihi  notum  nil  nisi  Phasis  erat. 

LXXIII.  —  Numidicae 

ANSERE  Romano  quamvis  satur  Hannibal  esset, 
ipse  suas  numquam  barbarus  edit  aves. 

LXXI  V.  —  A  nseres 

HAEC  servavit  avis  Tarpeia  templa  Tonantis. 
miraris  ?     nondum  fecerat  ilia  deus. 

LXXV.—  Grues 

TUKBABIS  versus  nee  littera  tota  volabit, 
unam  perdideris  si  Palamedis  avem. 

LXX  VI.  —  Rusticulae 

RUSTICA  sim  an  perdix  quid  refert,  si  sapor  idem  est  ? 
carior  est  perdix.     sic  sapit  ilia  magis. 

1  This  may  be  an  allusion  to  Aesopus,  the  tragic  actor,  who 
served  up  a  dish  consisting  only  of  singing  birds  :  Plin,  N.H. 
x.  72.     Housman,   however,  thinks  that  garrula  =  telltale. 
and  that  the  bird  could  say  how  impure  the  mouths  were 
that  fed  on  it. 

2  A  river  of  the  Colchians  from  which  the  Argonauts  are 
said  to  have  brought  the  pheasant  (the  Phasian  bird). 

3  Because  luxury  had  not  at  that  time  introduced  them 
into  Italy.     As  to  Numidicae,  cf.  in.  Iviii.  15. 

416 


BOOK    XIII.  LXXI-LXXVI 

LXXI. — Flamingoes 

MY  ruddy  wing  gives  me  a  name,  but  my  tongue 
is  a  delicacy  to  gluttons.  What  if  my  tongue  were 
to  speak  ? l 

LXXII. — Pheasants 

I  WAS  transported  first  by  Argo's  keel ;  ere  that 
Phasis  2  was  all  I  knew. 

LXXIII. — Gtdnea- fowls 

ALTHOUGH  Hannibal  ate  his  fill  of  Roman  geese, 
yet  the  barbarian  never  ate  the  birds  of  his  own 
land.3 

LXX1V.— Geese 

THIS  bird  saved  the  Thunderer's  Tarpeian  fane. 
Do  you  wonder  ?  a  god  had  not  yet  built  it.4 

LXXV.— Cranes 

You  will  disorder  the  lines,  and  the  letter  will  not 
fly  complete  if  you  make  away  with  a  single  bird  of 
Palamedes.5 

LXXVL—  Woodcock 

WHETHER  I  am  woodcock  or  partridge,  what  does 
it  matter  if  the  flavour  be  the  same  ?  A  partridge 
is  dearer.  'Tis  thus  it  has  better  flavour.6 

4  The  cackling  of  geese  saved  the  Capitol  B.C.  390  from  a 
night  attack  by  the  Gauls.  Now  it  can  run  no  risk.  Domi- 
tian  rebuilt  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  which  had 
been  twice  burnt  :  Suet.  Dom.  \  ;  ix.  iii.  7. 

8  P.  is  said  to  have  copied  the  shape  of  the  letters  he  in- 
vented from  the  order  of  the  flight  of  cranes.  In  ix.  xiii.  7 
the  letter  is  T=  F.  M.  is  probably  playing  on  two  meanings 
of  versus  (line).  See  also  Luc.  v.  716,  which  M.  had  in  mind. 

6  cf.  Afagis  illajuvant  qitae  pluris  emuntnr,  Juv.  xi.  16. 

417 
VOL.  II.  E    E 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXX  VII.  —  Cycni 

DULCIA  defecta  modulatur  carmina  lingua 
cantator  cycnus  funeris  ipse  sui. 

LXXVIII.  —  Porphyriones 

NOMEN  habet  magni  volucris  tam  parva  gigantis  ? 
et  nomen  prasini  Porphyrionis  habet. 

LXXIX.—  Mulli  Vim 

SPIRAT  in  advecto  sed  iam  piger  aequore  mullus 
languescit.     vivum  da  mare  :  fortis  erit. 

LXXX.  —  Muraenae 

QUAE  natat  in  Siculo  grandis  muraena  profundo, 
non  valet  exustam  mergere  sole  cutem. 

LXXXI.—  Rhombi 

QUAMVIS  lata  gerat  patella  rhombum, 
rhombus  latior  est  tamen  patella. 


1  According  to  Aristotle  (Athen.  ix.  49),  "  eltrlv  ySiicol  KO.\ 
nd\iara  TTfpl  -ras  T€\evrds."     Plin.  (N.H.  x.  32)  denies  it. 

2  The  porphyrion  is  unknown.     It  was  a  bird  with  a  long 
and  narrow  neck,  and  long  legs.     The  beak   and  legs  were 
red.      So  Pliny,  N.H.  x.  Txiii.  and  xi.  Ixxix.     It  is  distin- 
guished from  the  pelican  in  Arist.  Av.  881.     According  to 
Athen.  (ix.  40)  it  came  from  Libya,  and  was  also  a  domestic 
bird. 

8  P.  one  of  the  giants  who  made  war  on  the  gods  :  Hor. 
Od.  in.  iv.  54. 
*  A  charioteer  of  the  Green  faction  of  the  Circus. 

418 


BOOK    Xlll  I.XXVH-LXXXI 

LXXVII. — Swans 

THE  swan  gives  forth  its  sweet  measured  song  with 
failing  tongue,  itself  the  minstrel  of  its  own  death.1 

LXXVIII. — Porphyrions 

HAS  so  small  a  bird2  the  name  of  a  great  giant  ? 
It  has,  too,  the  name  of  Porphyrion8  of  the  Green.4 


LXXIX.— Live  Mullets 

THE  mullet  breathes  in  the  sea-water  brought 
with  him,  but,  already  torpid,  he  begins  to  languish. 
Give  him  the  fresh  sea ;  he  will  be  strong.5 

LXXX. — Lampreys 

THE  big  lamprey  that  swims  in  the  Sicilian  deep 
sea  has  not  the  strength  to  plunge  when  its  skin  is 
scorched  by  the  sun.6 

LXXXL— Turbot* 

HOWEVER  wide  is  the  dish  that  bears  the  turbot, 
yet  the  turbot  is  wider  than  the  dish. 

5  According  to  Friedliinder  fish  were  brought  alive  to  table 
in  glass  vessels  and  boiled  before  the  eyes  of  the  guests,  who 
observed  the  changing  hues  of  the  dying  fish  :  cf.  Sen.  Quaest, 
iii.  17,  who  observes  that  it  sounds  like  a  fable  that  the  eyes 
were  fed  before  the  throat. 

6  According   to   Arist.    (H.A.  vni.  iii.   4)  turtles,  when 
their  shells  were  scorched  by  the  sun,  were  unable  to  sink, 
and  so  were  caught  ;  see  also  Plin.  N.H.  ix.   12.     M.  says 
the  same  thing   of  the  lamprey.    Such  animals  were  called 
wAwTeu  or  flutae  :  Macrob.  Sat.  iii.  15.     The  best  lampreys 
came  from  the  Straits  of  Messena  :  ibid. 

419 

E    E    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXXIL— Ostrea 

EBRIA  Baiano  modo  veni  concha  Lucrino  : 
nobile  nunc  sitio  luxuriosa  garum. 

LXXXIIL— Squillae 

CAERULEUS  nos  Liris  amat,  quern  silva  Maricae 
protegit :  hinc  squillae  maxima  turba  sumus. 

LXXXIV.— Scans 

Hie  scarus,  aequoreis  qui  venit  adesus  ab  undis, 
visceribus  bonus  est,  cetera  vile  sapit. 

LXXXV. — Coracinns 

PRINCEHS  Niliaci  raperis,  coracine,  macelli : 
Pellaeae  prior  est  gloria  nulla  gulae. 

LXXXVI.— Echini 

ISTE  licet  digitos  testudine  pungat  acuta, 
cortice  deposita  mollis  echinus  erit. 

1  Which    produced    the    finest    oysters :    c/.    in.   Ix.   3 ; 
Macrob.  Sat.  iii.  15.  -  Garum  :  cf.  xiv.  cii. 

3  A  river  in  Campania  near  Minturnae.     Marica  was  its 
tutelary  nymph  who  had  a   grove  near  it :    Hor.   Od.  in. 
xvii.  7. 

4  The  scants  is  really  unknown.  It  was  a  favourite  fish, 
brought    originally,   according  to  Pliny  (N.H.    ix.   29),  by 
Tiberius  from  the  Carpathian  Sea,  and  planted  by  Optatus, 
praefectus  classis,  in  the  sea  between  Ostia  and  Campania. 
It  was  preserved  for  the  first  five  years.    Athenaeus  (vii.  113) 
gives  a  description. 

420 


BOOK    XIII.  LXXXII-LXXXVI 

LXXXIL— Oysters 

DRUNKEN  with  the  water  of  Baiae's  Lucrine,1  have 
I,  a  shell-fish,  just  arrived.  Now,  luxurious  that  I 
am,  I  thirst  for  the  noble  pickle.2 

LXXXIII. — Prawns 

CERULEAN  Liris,3  which  Marica's  wood  guards,  is 
fond  of  us  :  from  hence  we  prawns  come  in  greatest 
numbers. 

LXXXI V. —Sea-bream 

OF  this  sea-bream,4  which  has  come  lean  from  the 
sea-waves,  the  entrails  are  good  eating;  as  to  the 
rest  it  has  poor  flavour. 

LX  X  X  V. — Cor  acinus 

You  of  all  fish  are  scrambled  for,  Coracinus,5  in 
the  markets  of  Nile ;  to  Alexandria's  gourmets  no 
fish  has  renown  surpassing  yours. 

LXXX  VI.  —  Sea-urchins 

ALTHOUGH  that  sea-urchin  may  prick  your  fingers 
with  its  sharp  shell,  yet,  when  it  lays  aside  its  husk, 
it  will  be  soft.6 

5  An   unknown   but    valued   fish    peculiar   to  the  Nile  : 
Plin.  N.H.  xxxii.  19,  who  says  it  was  not  caught  in  winter 
except  on   the  same  few  days  :    N.H.    ix.    9A.      See  also 
Athen.  vii.  81,  who  says  it  was  so  called  from  its  continually 
moving  the  pupils  of  its  eyes  (iciipai).     It  was  regarded  as  in 
every  way  superior  to  the  midlus  :  Athen.  iii.  93. 

6  It  was  eaten  with  vinegar  and  honey  sauce,  parsley,  and 
mint :  Athen.  iii.  41.     Athenaeus  (loc.  cit.)  tells  the  story  of 
a  Spartan  who  at  a  dinner  bit  a  sea-urchin,  shell  and  all,  in 
ignorance  and  cursed  the  viand  (Qdyrina.  /j.tapbv),  adding  he 
would  not  be  beaten  by  it,  but  would  never  eat  another. 

421 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXXVIL— Muricet 

SANGUINE  de  nostro  tinctas,  ingrate,  lacernas 
induis,  et  non  est  hoc  satis  :  esca  sumus. 

LXXXVIIL— Gobii 

IN  Venetis  shit  lauta  licet  convivia  terris, 
principium  cenae  gobius  esse  solet. 

LXXXIX.—  Lupus 

LAN  BUS  Euganei  lupus  excipit  ora  Timavi, 
aequoreo  dulces  cum  sale  pastus  aquas. 

XC. — Aural  a 

NON  omnis  laudes  pretiumque  aurata  meretur, 
sed  cui  solus  erit  concha  Lucrina  cibus. 

XCI. — Acipensis 

AD  Palatinas  acipensem  mittite  mensas  : 
ambrosias  ornent  munera  rara  dapes. 

1  cf.  v.  xxiii.  5.     Pliny  (ix.  60)  says  that  luxury  had  made 
the  fish  as  preoious  as  pearls.     Travellers  speak  of  a  hill  still 
standing  at  Tarentum  of  the  debris  of  the  miirex. 

2  cf.  Col.  viii.  16  ;  Hor.  Sat.  n.  iv.  32. 

3  A  small  fish,  ordinarily  little  esteemed,  but  common  in 
the  lagoons  of  Venice.     Inferior  to  a  blenny  :  Diog.  L.  ii.  67. 
Juv.  (xi.  37)  treats  the  price  of  a  gobius  as  an  insignificant 
sum,  as  compared  with  the  price  of  a  mullus. 

4  The  most  prized  lupi  were  called  lanati  or  lanei  from  the 
whiteness  and  softness  of  their  flesh  :    Plin.   N.H.  ix.   28. 
The  lupus  may  have  been  the  bass,  one  name  of  which  is  the 
sea-wolf,  from  its  rapaciousnes  (Grk.  A.a/3pa|);  cf.  the  proverb 
\dBpax«s  yit\r)fftoi  of  greedy  persons  ;  and  generally  Atheu. 
vii.  86, 


BOOK    XIII.  LXXXVII-XCI 

LXXXVIL— Purple  Mussels 

CLOAKS  dyed  in  our  blood,1  ingrate,  you  put  on ; 
and  this  is  not  enough  :  we  are  your  food.2 

LXXXVIIL— Gudgeons 

IN  Venetian  territory,  however  choice  may  be  the 
entertainment,  the  beginning  of  the  dinner  is  wont 
to  be  a  gudgeon.3 

LXXXIX.— The  Bass 

SOFT  and  white4  the  bass  breasts  the  mouths  of 
Euganean  Timavus,5  fed  on  fresh  water  and  the  salt 
of  the  sea. 

XC.— The  GiUhead 

NOT  every  gilthead '  deserves  praise  and  a  big 
price,  but  the  one  that  feeds  only  on  Lucrine  shell- 
fish. 

XCL—  The  Sturgeon 

SEND  sturgeon  to  Palatine  tables  ;  let  rare  offer- 
ing adorn  ambrosial  8  feasts. 

5  A  river,    now   the   Timavo,   forming   the    boundary   of 
Istria  and  Venetia  and  falling  into  the  Adriatic. 

6  The  same  as  the  Greek  xp^^o^pvs  (the  zoological  name  of 
which  is  Chrysophrys  aurata),  and  probably  not  the  John 
Dory,  the  name  of  which  is  Zeus  faber.    It  feeds  on  molluscs. 

7  According  to  Pliny  (N.H.  ix.  27)  the  fish,  though  rare, 
was  little  esteemed  in  his  time. 

8  i.e.  of  the  emperor.     M.  anticipates  the  English  common 
law  whereby   "  whales   and  sturgeons  are   royal  fish,  and 
belong  to  the  King  by  his  prerogative  "  :  7  Coke's  Reports, 
16  A.     Macrob.  (Sat.  iii.  16)  says  that,  at  a  banquet  of  the 
Emperor  Septimius   Severus,    the  fish   was   ushered   in  by 
crowned  attendants  to  the   sound  of  flutes,  quasi  numinis 
pompa. 

423 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XCII.  —  Lepores 

INTER  aves  turdus,  si  quid  me  iudice  certum  est, 
inter  quadripedes  mattea  prima  lepus. 


Qui  Diomedeis  metuendus  saetiger  agris 
Aetola  cecidit  cuspide,  talis  erat. 

XCIV.  —  Dammae 

DENTE  timetur  aper,  defendant  cornua  cervum  : 
inbelles  dammae  quid  nisi  praeda  sumus  ? 

XCV.—  Oryx 

MATUTINARUM  non  ultima  praeda  ferarum 
saevos  oryx  constat  quot  mihi  morte  canum  ! 

XCVI.—  Cervus 

Hie  erat  ille  tuo  domitus,  Cyparisse,  capistro. 
an  magis  iste  tuus,  Silvia,  cervus  erat? 

XCVIL—  Lalisio 

DUM  tener  est  onager  solaque  lalisio  matre 
pascitur,  hoc  infans  sed  breve  nomen  habet. 

1  Meleager's,   who    slew   the    Calydonian.   boar  :    cf.    ix. 
xlviii.  6  ;  xi.  Ixix.  10.  2  cf.  vin.  Ixvii.  4. 

3  A  one-horned,  cloven-hoofed  animal,  not  unlike  a  wild 
goat  :  Plin.  N_.H.  xi.  106.     It  was  a  ferocious  animal,   and 
came   from  Caetulia  :    Opp.  De  Ven.  ii.  .445.     Its  flesh  was 
esteemed  by  rich  epicures  :  Juv.  xi.  140. 

4  C.  ,  having  by  accident  shot  his  favourite  stag,  prayed 
the  gods  to  grant  him  perpetual  grief,  and  was  turned  iiite  a 
cypress,  the  symbol  of  mourning  :  Ov.  Met.  x.  109  et  -seqq. 

424 


BOOK    XIII.  xcn-xcvii 

XCIL— Hares 

AMONGST  birds  the  fieldfare,  if  my  judgment  can 
aught  decide,  amongst  quadrupeds  the  primest  deli- 
cacy is  a  hare. 

XCIIL— A  Boar 

THE  terror  in  the  land  of  Diomedes,  the  bristly 
beast  that  fell  beneath  an  Aetolian  spear,1  was  such 
as  this. 

XCIV.— Does 

FOR  his  tusk  is  the  boar  dreaded,  his  horns  defend 
the  stag  ;  we,  unwarlike  does,  what  are  we  but  a 
prey  ? 

XCV.—The  Oryx 

NOT  the  meanest  quarry  among  the  beasts  of 
morning  shows,2  the  savage  oryx 3  costs  me  the 
death  of  how  many  dogs  ! 

XCVL— The  Stag 

WAS  this  the  stag  tamed  by  your  halter,  Cypa- 
rissus,4  or  rather  was  it  your  stag,  Silvia5  ? 

XCVIL— The  Milk-foal  of  the  Wild  Ass 

WHILE  he  is  a  young  wild  ass,  and  is  fed  by  his 
mother  alone,  the  lalisio 6  has,  as  a  nursling,  this 
name,  but  one  short-lived.7 

5  Silvia  was  the  daughter  of  Tyrrheus,  the  huntsman  of 
King   Latinus.      Ascanius,    the   son    of    Aeneas,    shot   her 
favourite  stag,  and  thus  brought  about  the  war  between  the 
Trojans  and  the  Latins  :  cf.  Verg.  Aen.  vii.  483  et  seqq. 

6  Pliny  (N.H.  viii.  69)  says  that  the  flesh  of  the  lalisio  was 
much  appreciated. 

7  When  weaned  it  is  called  a  wild  ass. 

425 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XCVIIL— Caprea 

PENDENTEM  summa  capream  de  rupe  videbis : 
casuram  spares  ;  despicit  ilia  canes. 

XCIX.  — Dorcas 

DELICIUM  parvo  donabis  dorcada  nato  : 
iactatis  solet  hanc  mittere  turba  togis. 

C. — Onager 

PULCHER  adest  onager  :  mitti  venatio  debet 
dentis  Erythraei :  iam  removete  sinus. 

CI. — Oleum  Venafrum 

Hoc  tibi  Campani  sudavit  baca  Venafri : 
unguentum  quotiens  sumis,  et  istud  olet. 

CII. — Garum  Sociorum 

EXPIRANTIS  adhuc  scombri  de  sanguine  prinio 
accipe  fastosum,  munera  cara,  garum. 

CIII. — Amphora  Muriae 

ANTIPOUTANI,  fateor,  sum  filia  thynni : 
essem  si  scombri,  non  tibi  missa  forem. 

1  Perhaps  a  reminiscence  of  Verg.  Ed.  i.  76. 

2  i.e.  in  the  Amphitheatre. 

3  It  is  no  use  to  supplicate  for  the  return  of  the  elephant 
hunt.     As  to  this  practice,  cf.  Ov.  Am.  ill.  ii.  74. 

4  Which  was  celebrated  for  its  olives  :  cf.  xu.  Ixiii.;  Hor. 
Od.  ii.  vi.  16. 

3  Garum,  made  of  the  intestines  and  offal  of  mackerel.  The 

426 


BOOK    XIII.  xcvin-cin 

XCV1IL— The  Roe 

You  will  see  a  roe  poised  on  the  summit  of  a 
rock ; l  one  can  only  hope  she  will  fall  ;  she  is 
showing  contempt  of  the  dogs. 

XCIX.— The  Gazelle 

You  shall  give  a  gazelle  as  a  pet  to  your  little  son. 
The  crowd  loves  to  procure  its  dismissal  by  fluttering 
their  togas.2 

C._ The  Wild  Ass 

A  BEAUTIFUL  wild  ass  comes ;  the  hunt  of  the 
Indian  tusk  must  be  sent  away;  now  shake  your  togas 
no  longer.3 

CI. — Venafran  Oil 

THIS  oil  the  berry  of  Campanian  Venafrum  4  has 
distilled  for  you ;  your  unguent,  as  often  as  you  use 
it,  smells  too  of  that  oil. 

CIL — Fish  Sauce  of  the  Allies 

RECEIVE  this  proud  sauce,5  made  of  the  first  blood 
of  a  mackerel  breathing  still,  an  expensive  gift. 

CIII. — A  Jar  of  Tunny-fish  Sauce 

DAUGHTER  of  the  tunny  of  Antipolis  I  confess  I 
am.6  Were  I  of  the  mackerel,  I  should  not  have 
been  sent  to  you.7 

finest  was  called  garum  sociorum,  and  came  from  a  manu- 
factory at  New  Carthage  in  Spain  :  Plin.  N.H.  xxxi.  43,  who 
says  it  was  almost  as  dear  as  unguent,  and  was  sold  for  a 
thousand  sesterces  (£8)  for  2  congii  =  12  pints. 

8  i.e.  I  am  the  inferior  fish  sauce  called  mttria,  made  of  the 
entrails  of  other  fish  than  mackerel,  principally  tunny. 

'  But  to  a  rich  man. 

427 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CIV.—  Mel  Atticum 

Hoc  tibi  These!  populatrix  misit  Hymetti 
Pallados  a  silvis  nobile  nectar  apis. 

GV.—Favi  Siculi 

CUM  dederis  Siculos  mediae  de  collibus  Hyblae, 
Cecropios  dicas  tu  licet  esse  favos. 

CVL—Pauum 

GNOSIA  Minoae  genuit  vindemia  Cretae 
hoc  tibi,  quod  mulsum  pauperis  esse  solet. 

CVIL—  Picatum 

HAEC  de  vitifera  venisse  picata  Vienna 
ne  dubites,  misit  Romulus  ipse  mihi. 


ATTICA  nectareum  turbatis  mella  Falernum. 
misceri  decet  hoc  a  Ganymede  merum. 

CIX.  —  A  Ibanum 

Hoc  de  Caesareis  mitis  vindemia  cellis 
misit,  luleo  quae  sibi  monte  placet. 

1  A  hill  near  Athens  famous  for  its  thyme. 

2  Sicilian  honey  was  inferior  to  Attic,  though  Hyblan  and 
Hymettian   honey  are  constantly  mentioned  together  :  c/1 
xi.  xlii.  3.     Pliny  calls  each  optimum:  N.H.  xi.  13. 

8  Midsum  was  wine  and  honey  mixed  :  cf.  Ep.  cviii. 
Possum  was  made  from  a  grape  called  apiana  (?  muscatel) 
dried  in  the  sun  :  Plin.  N.H.  xi.  11. 

4  Vienne  in  Oallia  Narbone.nsis,     The  district  bore  vines 

428 


BOOK    XIII.  civ-nx 

CIV.—. Attic  Honey 

THIS  the  bee,  spoiler  of  Thesean  Hymettus,1  has 
sent  you,  noble  nectar  from  the  woods  of  Pallas. 

CV. — Sicilian  Honeycombs 

WHEN  you  make  a  present  of  Sicilian  combs  from 
amid  Hybla's  hills 2  you  may  say  they  are  Attic 
combs. 

CVI. — Raisin  Wine 

THE  vintage  of  Gnossos  in  Minoan  Crete  brought 
forth  for  you  this,  which  is  wont  to  be  the  poor  man's 
mead.3 

CVll.~ Pitch-favoured  Wine 

THAT  this  pitch-flavoured  wine  came  from  vine- 
bearing  Vienna4  do  not  doubt;  Romulus5  himself 
sent  it  to  inc. 

CVIII. — Honeyed  Wine  or  Mead 
You,  Attic  honey,  thicken  the  nectarous 6  Faler- 
nian.     It  is  meet  that  such  a  drink  be  mixed  by  a 
Ganymede. 

GIX.—AU>an  Wine 

THIS  wine  the  mild  grape,  proud  of  itself  on  the 
Julian  mount,7  sends  you  from  Caesar's  cellars. 

producing  wine  with  a  natural  taste  of  pitch  :  Plin.  N.H. 
xiv.  3  ;  xxiii.  24. 

5  Some  friend  at  V.  where  Martial  was  known  :  cf.  vn. 
Ixxxviii.  2. 

•  To  blend  with  honey  the  wine  had  to  be  old  :  Plin.  N.  H. 
xxii.  53. 

7  It  was  inferior  only  to  Falernian  and  Setine  :  Plin.  N.H. 
xiv.  8  (3).  One  variety  was  sweet  (Athen.  i.  48).  Juv. 
(xiii.  214)  speaks  of  its  pretiosa  senectus. 

429 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CX. — Surrentinum 

SURRENTINA  bibis  ?     nee  murrina  picta  nee  aurunl 
sume  :  dabunt  calices  haec  tibi  vina  sues. 

CXI. — Falernum 

DE  Sinuessanis  venerunt  Massica  prelis  : 
condita  quo  quaeris  consule  ?     nullus  erat. 

CXII. — Selinum 

PENDULA  Pomptinos  quae  spectat  Setia  campos, 
exigua  vetulos  misit  ab  urbe  cados. 

CXIIL — Fundanum 

HAEC  Fundana  tulit  felix  autumnus  Opimi. 
expressit  mustum  consul  et  ipse  bibit. 

CXIV.—Trifolinum 

NON  sum  de  primo,  fateor,  trifolina  Lyaeo, 
inter  vina  tamen  septima  vitis  ero. 

1  Tiberius  called  it  generous  vinegar,  and  Claudius  noble 
vapidity  :  Plin.  N.H.  xiv.  8(3).  It  was  a  thin  wine,  suitable 
for  invalids :  ibid. 

2  cf.  xiv.  cxiii.  1. 

3  Surrentine  earthenware :  cf.  xiv.  cii. ;  vin.  vi.  2. 

*  In  Campania,  near  which  was  Mons  Ma^icus  and  Mann 
Fahrnus. 

6  The  wine  was  as  old  as  the  kings  (B.C.  510).  This  is  of 
course  hyperbolical. 

43° 


BOOK    XIII.  cx-cxiv 

CX. — Surrentine  Wine 

DRINK  you  Surrentine  ? l  Take  not  beakers  of 
painted  murrine,2  nor  of  gold :  these  wines  will 
supply  you  with  their  native  cups.3 

CXI. — Falernian  Wine 

FROM  presses  of  Sinuessa4  has  the  Massic  come. 
Stored  in  what  consul's  year  do  you  ask  ?  there  was 
no  consul  then.5 

CXII Setine  Wine 

SETIA  high-poised,  that  looks  on  the  Pomptine 
levels,  has  sent  from  a  tiny  city  casks  of  aged  wine.6 

CXIII. — Fundanian  Wine 

THIS  Fundanian  the  rich  autumn  of  Opimius'  year7 
produced.  The  consul  squeezed  out  the  must,  and 
himself  drank  the  wine. 

CXIV.— TrifoKne  Wine 

I  AM  not,  I  confess,  of  the  first  brand  of  Lyaeus ; 
yet  among  wines  my  vintage  shall  be  the  seventh.8 

6  The  favourite  wine  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  :  Plin.  N.H. 
xiv.  8  (1).     Pliny  describes  it  as  less  strong  than  Surrentine, 
less  rough  than  Alban,  and  more  fiery  than  Falernian  :  N.H. 
xxiii.  21. 

7  B.C.  121,  a  famous  year  :    cf.  i.  xxvi.  7.     Athen.  (i.  48) 
describes  it  as  a  heady  wine. 

8  The  wine  was  called  trifolinum  because  it  matured  tertio 
foliorum  exortu,  i.e.  in  three  years.    It  had  an  earthy  flavour  : 
Athen.  i.  48 ;  and  is  called  by  Pliny  (N.H.  xiv.  8  (6))  plebeium. 
But  it  is  praised  by  Juv.  (ix.  56). 

43* 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXV. — Caecubum 

CAECUBA  Fundanis  generosa  cocuntur  Amyclis, 
vitis  et  in  media  nata  palude  viret. 

CX  VI.  — Signinum 

POTABIS  liquidum  Signina  morantia  ventrem  ? 
ne  nimium  sistas,  sit  tibi  parca  sitis. 

CX  VII. — Mamertinum 

AMPHORA  Nestorea  tibi  Mamertina  senecta 
si  detur,  quodvis  nomen  habere  potest. 

CX  VIII. — Tarraconense 

TARRACO,  Campano  tantum  cessura  Lyaeo, 
haec  genuit  Tuscis  aemula  vina  cadis. 

CXIX. — Nomentanum 

NOMENTANA  meum  tibi  dat  vindemia  Bacchum  : 
si  te  Quintus  amat,  commodiora  bibes. 

CXX. — Spoletinum 

DE  Spoletinis  quae  sunt  -cariosa  lagonis 
malueris  quarn  si  musta  Falerna  bibas. 

1  A  stimulating  and   vigorous   wine,    to   be   laid   down  : 
Athen.  i.  48. 

2  Pliny  says  (N.H.  xiv.    8  (3))   that  it  was  considered  a 
medicine   "  austeritate  nimia    contiiiendae   utile  alro."       It 
improved  after  six  years  :  Athen.  i.  48. 

3  From  Messena,  in  Sicilv.  It  was  a  sweet  and  light  wine  : 
Athen.  i.  48. 

4  i.e.  it  is  as  good  as  any  wine. 

432 


BOOK    XIII.  cxv-cxx 

CXV. — Caecuban  Wine 

GENEROUS  Caecuban l  is  ripened  at  Amyclae  by 
Fundi,  and  the  vine  grows  green,  born  in  the  middle 
of  the  marsh. 

GKVL—Signme  Wine 

WILL  you  drink  Signine  that  constricts  relaxed 
bowels  ?  That  you  may  not  check  them  too  much, 
let  your  thirst  be  sparing.2 

CXVIL— Mamertine  Wine 

IF  a  jar  of  Mamertine  3  as  old  as  Nestor  be  given 
to  you,  it  can  bear  any  name  you  please.4 

CXVIII. — Tarraconian  Wine 

TARRACO,  that  will  yield  only  to  Campanian  vine- 
yards, begot  this  wine  that  vies  with  Tuscan  jars.5 

CXIX. — Nomentan  Wine 

A  NOMENTAN  vintage  gives  you  this  wine  of  my 
own.  If  Quintus  loves  you,  you  will  drink  better 
wines.6 

CXX. — Spoletine  Wine 

CRUSTED  wines  from  Spoletine  flagons  you  will 
prefer  to  the  drinking  of  Falernian  must.7 

8  "  Nobilitantur  elegantia  Tarraconenuia,  et  conferuntur 
Italiae  primis":  Plin.  N.H.  xiv.  8(6). 

6  Yet  M.  says  that  Nomentan,  when  it  is  old,  can  compare 
with  any  wine  :  cf.  I.  cv.  4.     It  ripened  quickly,  and  was 
drinkable  after  five  years  :  Athen.  i.  48. 

7  i.e.  F.   new  wine.     Yet  Spoletine  was  a  poor  wine  :  cf. 
xiv.   cvi.     In  Athen.   (i.  48)  it  is   described   as  sweet  and 
golden  in  colour. 

433 
VOL.  II.  V    F 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CXXI. — Paelignum 

MARSICA  Paeligni  mittunt  turbata  colon! : 
non  tu,  libertus  sed  bibat  ilia  tuns. 

CXXIL— Acetum 

AMPHORA  Niliaci  non  sit  tibi  vilis  aceti : 
esset  cum  vinum,  vilior  ilia  fuit. 

CXXIII. — Massilitannm 

CUM  tua  centenos  expunget x  sportula  civis, 
fumea  Massiliae  ponere  vina  potes. 

CXXIV.— Caeretanum 

CAERETANA  Nepos  ponat,  Setina  putabis. 
non  ponit  turbae,  cum  tribus  ilia  bibit. 

CXXV.— Tarentinum 

NOBILIS  et  lanis  et  felix  vitibus  Aulon 
det  pretiosa  tibi  vellera,  vina  mihi. 
1  expugnel  T£. 


1  cf.  xrv.  cvi.    A  rough,  but  stomachic  wine  :  Athen.  i.  48. 

2  Egyptian  vinegar  was  celebrated  :  Athen.  ii.  76  ;  Juv. 
xiii.  85. 

8  i.e.  when  you  wish  to  repay  clients  for  their  services. 
Massilia  had  a  bad  reputation  for  exposing  its  wines  too  long 

434 


BOOK    XIII.  cxxi-cxxv 


CXXI. — Paelignian  Wine 

PAELIGNIAN  wine-growers  send  you  turbid  Marsic 1 
wine.  Do  not  drink  it  yourself,  but  let  your  freed- 
man  do  so. 

CXXIL— Vinegar 

LET  not  a  jar  of  Egyptian  vinegar  be  mean  in  your 
eyes.  When  it  was  wine  it  was  more  mean.2 


CXXIIL— Massilian  Wine 

WHEN  your  dole  shall  strike  off  the  list  a  hundred 
citizens,3  you  can  serve  them  the  smoky  wines  of 
Massilia. 

CXXIV.— Caerelan  Wine 

LET  Nepos 4  serve  Caeretan,5  you  will  imagine  it 
Setine.  He  does  not  serve  it  to  a  crowd  :  with  three 
guests  he  drinks  it. 

CXXV.—Tarentine  Wine 

LET  Aulon,6  renowned  for  wool  and  blest  in  vines, 
give  precious  fleeces  to  you,  wines 7  to  me. 

to  the  smoke  of  the  furnace  :  cf.  x.  xxxvi.  1.    But  Athenaeus 
(i.  48)  calls  it  a  good  full-bodied  wine. 

4  cf.  vi.  xxvii.  1. 

5  From  Caere  in  Etruria,  now  Cervetri. 

6  A  valley  in  the  region  of  Tarentum.     M.  has  in  mind 
Hor.  Od.  n.  vi.  18. 

7  T.  wine  was  sweet  and  soft,  with  no  strength  :  Athen. 
i.  48. 

435 
F  F  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CXX  VI. — Ungiienlum 

UNGUENTUM  heredi  numquam  nee  vina  relinquas. 
ille  habeat  nummos,  haec  tibi  tota  dato. 

CXX VII.— Coronae  Roseae 

DAT  festinatas,  Caesar,  tibi  bruma  coronas  : 
quondam  veris  erat,  nunc  tua  facta  rosa  est. 


436 


BOOK    XIII.  CXXVI-CXXVFI 

CXXVL— Unguent 

UNGUENT  or  wine  never  bequeath  to  your  heir; 
let  him  have  your  cash  :  the  whole  of  these  give  to 
your  own  self. 

CXXVII. — A   Crown  of  Roses 

FORCED  coronals  winter  gives  thee,  Caesar :  ere- 
while  the  rose  was  Spring's :  now  has  it  become 
thine.1 

1  cf.  vi.  Ixxx. 


437 


BOOK   XIV 


[LIBER    QUARTUS    DECIMUS] 
APOPHORETA 


SYNTHESIBUS  dum  gaudet  eques  dominusque  senator 

dumque  decent  nostrum  pillea  sumpta  lovem  ; 
nee  timet  aedilem  moto  spectare  fritillo, 

cum  videat  gelidos  tarn  prope  verna  lacus  : 
divitis  alternas  et  pauperis  accipe  sortes  :  5 

praemia  convivae  dent  sua  quisque  suo. 
"  Sunt  apinae  tricaeque  et  si  quid  vilius  istis." 

quis  nescit  ?     vel  quis  tarn  manifesta  negat  ? 
sed  quid  agam  potius  madidis,  Saturne,  diebus, 

quos  tibi  pro  caelo  filius  ipse  dedit?  10 

vis  scribam  Thebas  Troiamve  malasve  Mycenas  ? 

"  Lude  "  inquis  "  nucibus  "  :  perdere  nolo  nuces. 

1  Domitian  :  cf.  XI.  vi.  4.  The  wearing  of  the  pilleunt,  or 
cap  of  liberty,  was  common  at  the  Saturnalia,  as  being  sym- 
bolical of  the  licence  of  the  season. 

*  i.e.  when  he  sees  that  the  time  is  winter.  Lucian,  how- 
ever, says  (Saturn.  2)  that  a  common  Saturnalian  joke  was  to 
blacken  a  man's  face  and  to  duck  him  in  the  water.  If 
M.  alludes  to  this,  the  rendering  should  be  "although  he 
sees  "  etc. 

3  Apophoreta  are  presents  given  "  to  be  carried  away  " 
by  guests,  and  probably  distributed  by  lot  (sortes  i.  5  and 

440 


BOOK  XIV 
APOPHORETA 

I 

WHILE  the  knight  and  My  Lord  the  Senator  re- 
joice in  dinner-dress,  while  wearing  freedom's  cap 
beseems  our  Jove,1  and  the  home-bred  slave,  as 
he  shakes  the  dice-box,  does  not  fear  to  look  the 
Aedile  in  the  face,  when  he  sees  the  cold  tanks 
so  near,2  receive  these  lots,  gifts  of  rich  and  poor 
alternate  ;  let  everyone  give  his  own  guest  his  proper 
prize.3  "  They  are  worthless  and  gim-cracks,  or 
anything  still  meaner,  if  possible."  Who  does  not 
know  it  ?  Or  who  denies  what  is  so  plain  ?  But 
what  else  am  I  to  do,  Saturn,  on  the  unsober  days 
your  son4  himself  gave  you  in  exchange  for  Heaven? 
Do  you  wish  me  to  write  of  Thebes,  or  Troy,  or 
guilty  Mycenae  ?  "  Play  with  nuts,"  you  say.  I 
don't  want  to  lose  my  nuts.5 

J'etr.  40,  56).  Martial's  couplets  describe  nuch  gifts,  and 
were  clearly  intended  to  go  in  pairs,  one  couplet  describing 
something  that  would  be  given  by  a  rich  man,  and  the  next 
something  similar  that  would  be  given  by  a  poor  man.  But 
some  couplets  appear  to  have  been  lost  or  to  have  got  out  of 
order — e.g.  Ixvii.  and  Ixxi.  ;  but  the  following  are  among 
some  of  the  pairs  about  which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  viz. 
v.  and  vi. ;  xliii.  and  xliv. ;  Ixxxix.  and  xc.  ;  xciii.  and  xciv.  ; 
clix.  and  clx.  ;  clxi.  and  clxii.  See  Friedlander's  full  exami- 
nation. *  Jupiter.  8  cf.  v.  xxx.  8. 

441 


THE  EPIGRAMS  OF   MARTIAL 

II 

Quo  vis  cumque  loco  potes  hunc  finire  libellum  : 
versibus  explicitumst  omne  duobus  opus. 

lemmata  si  quaeris  cur  sint  adscripta,  docebo, 
ut,  si  malueris,  lemmata  sola  legas. 

III. — Pugillares  Citrei 

SECTA  nisi  in  tenues  essemus  ligna  tabellas, 
essemus  Libyci  nobile  dentis  onus. 

IV. — Quinquiplices 

CAEDE  iuvencorum  domini  calet  area  felix, 
quinquiplici  cera  cum  datur  altus  honos. 

V. — Pugillares  Eborei 

LANGUIDA  ne  tristes  obscurent  lumina  cerae, 
nigra  tibi  niveum  littera  pingat  ebur. 

VI. — Tripltces 

TUNC  triplices  nostros  non  vilia  dona  putabis, 
cum  se  venturam  scribet  arnica  tibi. 

VII. — Pugillares  Membranei 

ESSE  puta  ceras,  licet  haec  membrana  vocetur : 
delebis,  quotiens  scripta  novare  voles. 

1  Round  table-tops  (orbes)  were  supported  on  ivory  legs  : 
cf.  ix.  lix.  7,  8. 

a  The  sacrifice  takes  place  when  the  tablets  arrived  by 
which  the  emperor  sent  notice  of  promotion. 

3  But  generally  so  considered  :  cf.  vn.  Ixxii.  2 ;  x.  Ixxxvii.  6. 

442 


BOOK   XIV.  n-vii 

II 

You  can  finish  this  little  book  at  whatever  point  you 
like ;  every  subject  is  summed  up  in  two  verses.  If 
you  ask  why  headings  are  added,  I  will  explain :  it  is 
that,  if  you  prefer,  you  may  read  the  headings  only. 

III. — Tablets  of  Citrus-wood 

HAD  not  our  wood  been  cut  into  thin  plates,  we 
should  have  been  the  noble  burden  of  a  Libyan 
tusk.1 

IV. — Five-leaved  Tablets 

THE  glad  court  of  our  master  is  warm  with  the 
slaughter  of  steers,  when  by  the  five-leaved  waxen 
tablet  is  conferred  on  him  high  honour.2 

V. — Ivory  Tablets 

LEST  dark-coloured  waxen  tablets  dim  your  failing 
eyesight,  let  black  letters  dye  for  you  snow-white 
ivory. 

VI. — Three-leaved  Tablets 

You  will  then  deem  my  three-leaved  tablets  no 
mean 3  gift,  when  your  mistress  shall  write  to  you 
that  she  will  come. 

VII.— Parchment  Tablets 

IMAGINE  these  tablets  are  waxen,  although  they 
are  called  parchment.  You  will  rub  out  as  often  as 
you  wish  to  write  afresh.4 

4  Parchment  according  to  Quintilian  (x.  3)  was  used  by 
persons  of  weak  sight.  The  parchment  seems  therefore  to 
have  been  specially  prepared  so  as  to  admit  of  erasure,  as  on 
a  wax  tablet. 

443 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

Vlll.—Vitelliani 

NONDUM  legerit  hos  licet  puella, 
novit  quid  cupiant  Vitelliani. 

IX. — Idem 

QUOD  minimos  cernis,  mitti  nos  credis  amicae. 
falleris  :  et  nummos  ista  tabella  rogat. 

X. — Chartae  Maiores 

NON  est  munera  quod  putes  pusilla, 
cum  donat  vacuas  poeta  chartas. 

XI. — Chartae  Epistulares 

SEU  leviter  noto  seu  caro  missa  sodali 
omnes  ista  solet  charta  vocare  suos. 

XII. — Loculi  Eborei 

Hos  nisi  de  flava  loculos  implere  moneta 
non  decet :  argentum  vilia  ligna  ferant. 

XIII. — Loculi  Lignei 

Si  quid  adhuc  superest  in  nostri  faece  locelli, 
munus  erit.     nihil  est  ?     ipse  locellus  erit. 

1  Possibly  of  very  small  size  and  named  after  the  maker. 
They  were  often  used  for  billets-doux  :  cf.  n.  vi.  6. 
3  i.e.  you  will  not  be  bored  by  any  poems. 

444 


BOOK   XIV.  vin-xin 

VIII. —  Vitellian   Tablets 

ALTHOUGH  she  may  not  as  yet  have  read  them,  a 
girl  knows  what  Vitellian  l  tablets  wish  for. 

IX. — The  Same 

BECAUSE  you  see  we  are  very  small,  you  believe  we 
are  being  sent  to  a  mistress.  You  are  mistaken  :  a 
tablet  of  that  sort  also  duns  for  money. 

X. — Bigger  Sheets 

THERE  is  no  reason  you  should  think  the  offering 
puny  when  a  poet  gives  you  blank  sheets.2 

XI. — Letter-paper 

WHETHER  sent  to  a  slight  acquaintance  or  to  a 
dear  comrade,  this  paper  is  accustomed  to  address 
everyone  as  its  "  Dear  friend."  3 

XII. — Ivory  Money-boxes 

To  fill  these  money-boxes  with  anything  but  yellow 
money  is  unfitting  :  let  cheap  wood  carry  silver. 

XIII. — Wooden  Money-boxes 

IF  anything  still  remain  at  the  bottom  of  me,  a 
little  money-box,  it  shall  be  a  gift.  Is  there  nothing  ? 
The  little  box  itself  shall  be  the  gift. 

3  Suus  was  commonly  used  in  the  heading  to  a  letter,  e.g. 
C.  Plinius  Maximo  sno  S.  (mlutem).  S.  is  the  "felix  lit  era" 
of  vn.  xlv.  4. 

445 


XIV.— Tali  Eborei 

CUM  steterit  nullus  vultu  tibi  talus  eodem, 
munera  me  dices  magna  dedisse  tibi. 

XV. — Tesserae 

NON  sirn  talorum  numero  par  tessera,  dum  sit 
maior  quam  talis  alea  saepe  mihi. 

XVI. — Turricula 

QUAE  scit  compositos  manus  inproba  mittere  talos, 
si  per  me  misit,  nil  nisi  vota  feret. 

XVII. — Tabula  Lusoria 

HAC  mihi  bis  seno  numeratur  tessera  puncto ; 
calculus  hac  gemino  discolor  hoste  perit. 

XVIIL—  NVCM 

ALEA  parva  nuces  et  non  damnosa  videtur ; 
saepe  tamen  pueris  abstulit  ilia  natis. 


1  The  jactus  Veneris,  or  highest  throw  with  the  tali,  was 
where  each  of  them  turned  up  &  different  number.     The  tali 
were  three  or  four  in  number,  and  on  four  of  the  flat  sides 
were  marked  1,  3,  4,  and  6.      The  remaining  two  sides  were 
rounded  and  blank. 

2  Two,  sometimes  three,  dice  (tesserae)  were  used,  but  four 
tali. 

3  Gambling  with  dice  was  for  money,  and  seems  to  have 
been  a  more  expensive   mode   of   gambling   than    with   the 
knucklebones  :  cf.  iv.  Ixvi.  15. 

446 


BOOK    XIV.  xiv-xvm 

XIV. — Ivory  Knuckle-bones 

WHEN  no  one  of  the  bones  you  throw  stands  with 
the  same  face  as  another  you  will  say  I  have  given 
you  a  great  present.1 

XV.— Dice 

LET  us  dice  be  not  equal  in  number  to  the  knuckle- 
bones,2 if  only  our  stakes  be  often  greater  than  with 
the  knuckle-bones.3 

XVI— The  Little  Tower  Dice-box 

IF  the  cheating  hand,  that  knows  how  to  arrange 
and  throw  the  bones,  has  thrown  them  through  me, 
he  will  achieve  nothing  beyond  prayers.4 

XVII. — A   Gaming-board 

ON  this  side  of  me  dice  are  counted  by  double 
sixes  :  on  this  other  the  piece  of  hostile  colour  is 
taken  by  twin  foemen.5 

XVIIL— Nuts 

NUTS  appear  a  small  stake,  and  one  not  ruinous;  yet 
often  has  that  stake  made  prize  of  boys'  buttocks.6 

4  i.e.  his  fraud  does  not  succeed.  The  turricula  appears  to 
have  been  made  with  internal  grooves  to  prevent  cheating. 

6  The  epigram  is  on  a  gaming-table  suitable  both  for  the 
game  "of  the  twelve  lines"  (similar  to  backgammon)  and 
the  game  of  "robbers"  (like  chess  or  draughts):  cf.  vn. 
Ixxii.  8.  In  the  first  game  the  highest  throw  appears  to  have 
been  two  sixes  :  cf.  (of  three  dice)  Aesch.  Ag.  33.  In  the 
second  game  a  piece  was  taken  by  being  hemmed  in  by  two 
opposing  ' '  robbers  "  :  cf.  Ep.  xx. 

6  When  they  gamble,  whereas  they  ought  to  be  in  school : 
cf.  v.  Ixxxiv.  1,  2.  But  Gronovius'  comment  is,  "  Videtur 
potius  turpe  aliqnid  ac  nefandum  significari." 

447 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XIX. — Theca  Libraria 

SORTITUS  thecam  calamis  armare  memento  : 
cetera  nos  dedimus,  tu  leviora  para. 

XX. — Calculi 

INSIDIOSORUM  si  ludis  bella  latronum, 
gemmeus  iste  tibi  miles  et  hostis  erit. 

XXI. — Graphiarium 

HAEC  tibi  erunt  armata  suo  graphiaria  ferro  : 
si  puero  dones,  non  leve  munus  erit. 

XXII. — Dentiscalpium 

LENTISCUM  melius  :  sed  si  tibi  frondea  cuspis 
defuerit,  dentes  pinna  levare  potest. 

XXIII. — Auriscalpium 

Si  tibi  morosa  prurigine  verminat  auris, 
arma  damns  tantis  apta  libidinibus. 

XXIV.— Acus  Aurea 

SPLENDIDA  ne  madidi  violent  bombycina  crines, 
figat  acus  tortas  sustineatque  comas. 

XXV. — Pectines 

Quin  faciet  nullos  hie  inventura  capillos 
multifido  buxus  quae  tibi  dente  datur  ? 

1  Libraria,  marks  it  as  for  the  use  of  the  librarius,  con- 
taining all  that  he  needed.  *  cf.  Ep.  xvii. 

448 


BOOK    XIV.  xix-xxv 

XIX. — A   Case  for  Writing  Materials 

HAVING  won  the  case  T  in  the  raffle,  remember  to 
equip  it  with  pens  :  we  have  given  you  all  else,  do 
you  provide  the  slighter  things. 

XX. — Draught  Pieces 

IF  you  play  the  war-game  of  robbers  in  ambush, 
these  glass  pieces  will  be  your  soldiers  and  their 
enemies.2 

XXI.— A  Style-case 

THIS  style-case,  fitted  with  its  proper  iron  styles,3 
shall  be  for  you :  if  you  give  it  to  your  boy,  it  will 
be  no  slight  gift. 

XXII.— A   Toothpick 

MASTICK  4  is  better ;  but  if  pointed  wood  be  not 
forthcoming,  a  quill  can  relieve  your  teeth. 

XXIII.—  An  Earpick 

IF  your  ear  is  troubled  with  a  persistent  itching,  I 
give  you  an  instrument  appropriate  to  such  vagaries. 

XXIV.— A  Gold  Hairpin 

THAT  your  moistened  hair  may  not  soil  your  bright 
silks,  let  a  pin  fix  and  hold  up  your  knotted  locks. 

XXV.— Combs 

WHAT  will  be  the  use,  when  it  will  find  here  no 
hair,  of  this  many-toothed  piece  of  box  which  is 
given  you  ? 

8  Pointed  instruments  for  writing  on  wax. 
*  cf.  in.  Ixxxii.  9. 

449 

VOL.  II.  G    G 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XXVI.— Crines 

CHATTICA  3  Teutonicos  accendit  spuma  capillos  : 
captivis  poteris  cultior  esse  comis. 

XXVIL— Sapo 

Si  mutare  paras  longaevos  cana  capillos, 
accipe  Mattiacas  (quo  tibi  calva  ?)  pilas. 

XXVIII— Umbella 

ACCIPE  quae  nimios  vincant  umbracula  soles : 
sit  licet  et  ventus,  te  tua  vela  tegent. 

XXIX. — Causea 

IN  Pompeiano  tecum  spectabo  theatro. 
mandatus  2  populo  vela'negare  solet. 

XXX.— Venabula 

EXCIPIENT  apros  expectabuntque  leones, 
intrabunt  ursos,  sit  modo  firma  manus. 

XXXI. — Culler  Venatorius 

Si  deiecta  gemas  longo  venabula  rostro, 
hie  brevis  ingentem  comminus  ibit  aprum. 

1  Chaticas  T,  Cattica  0y. 

2  mandatus  quid  sit  nondum  satis  liquet,  nam  ventus  7, 
nam  flatus  Pontanus. 

1  Ladies  wore  false  hair,  much  of  which  came  from 
Germany,  or  from  German  captives.  This  hair  was  dyed 
with  sapo,  consisting  of  goats'  fat  and  beechwood  ashes  (Plin. 
N.H.  xxviii.  51)  in  the  form  of  balls.  See  next  epigram,  and 
cf.  spuma  Batava  in  vin.  xxxiii.  20. 

45° 


BOOK    XIV.  xxvi-xxxi 

XXVI.— Soap 

THE  spume  of  the  Chatti  turns  to  flame  Teutonic 
locks  :  you  can  be  smarter  with  the  hair  of  a  captive 
slave.1 

XXVII. — Soap-balk  from  Matliacum 
IF  white-haired  you  are  set  on  dyeing  your  aged 
locks,  accept — why   be   hairless  ? — these  balls  from 
Mattiacum."2 

XXVIII.—  A  Sunshade 

ACCEPT  a  sunshade  to  subdue  the  overpowering 
heat ;  even  though  there  be  a  wind,3  your  own 
awning  will  cover  you. 

XXIX. — A  Broad-brimmed  Hat 
I  WILL  be  a  spectator  with  you  in  Pompey's  theatre, 
for  blasts  of  wind  are  apt   to  deny  the  people  an 
awning.4 

XXX. — Hunting-spears 

THEY  will  counter  boars,  and  will  wait  for  the 
lion's  rush ;  they  will  pierce  bears  if  the  hand  be 
but  firm  enough. 

XXXI. — A  Hunting-knife 

IF  you  lament  that  your  hunting  spear  with  its 
long  blade  has  been  struck  down,  this  short  weapon 
will  closely  engage  a  huge  boar. 

2  Supposed  to  be  Marpurg  or  Wiesbaden.  It  was  a  town 
of  the  Chatti. 

*  When  the  ordinary  vela  could  not  be  spread,  or  had  to 
be  furled  :  cf.  xxix.  2. 

4  Therefore  the  head  requires  a  covering.  The  cauiea  was 
a  high-crowned  and  broad-brimmed  hat.  It  came  originally 
from  Macedonia  :  Val.  Max.  v.  i.  4,  and  was  especially  worn 
by  fishermen  and  sailors. 

451 
O    G    2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF  MARTIAL 

XXXII. — Parazoninm 

MILITIAE  decus  hoc  gratique  erit  omen  honoris, 
arma  tribunicium  cingere  digna  latus. 

XXXIII.— Pugio 

PUGIO,  quern  curva  signat  brevis  orbita  vena, 
stridentem  gelidis  hunc  Salo  tinxit  aquis. 

XXXIV.— Falx 

PAX  me  certa  duels  placidos  curvavit  in  usus. 
agricolae  nunc  sum,  militis  ante  fui. 

XXXV.—- Securicula 

CUM  fieret  tristis  solvendis  auctio  nummis, 
haec  quadringentis  milibus  empta  fuit. 

XXXVI. — F err  amenta  Tonsoria 

TONDENDIS  haec  arma  tibi  sunt  apta  capillis ; 
unguibus  hie  longis  utilis,  ilia  genis. 

XXXVII. — Scrinium 

SELECTOS  nisi  das  mihi  libellos, 
admittam  tineas  trucesque  blattas. 


1  The  parazonium  was  a  waist  belt  carrying  a  sword  womj 
on  the  left  side  by  military  tribunes,  whereas  the  ordinar^ 
soldier  .wore  his  sword  slung  on  the  right  side  by  a  shoulder-' 
strap.  *  i.e.  of  an  appointment  to  a  tribuneship. 

3  cf.  i.  xlix.  12.  Salo  was  the  river  of  Bilbilis,  M.'s  birth- 
place. 

452 


BOOK   XIV.  xxxn-xxxvii 

XXXII.— A  Belt  and  Sword 

A  SOLDIER'S  decoration1  is  this,  and  it  will  be  a 
sign  of  a  prized  honour,2  a  weapon  worthy  to  gird  a 
tribune's  side. 

XXXIII.— A  Dagger 

THIS  dagger,  which  a  narrow  circle  marks  with  its 
rounded  groove,  Salo  dipt3  while  it  was  hissing  in 
his  chilling  waters. 

XXXIV.— A  Sickle 

ME  our  Captain's  assured  peace  has  bent  to  serve 
quiet  uses:  the  husbandman's  am  I  now,  the  soldier's 
was  I  aforetime. 

XXXV.— A  Small  Axe 

WHEN  a  melancholy  auction  for  payment  of  debts 
was  held,  this  was  bought  for  four  hundred  thousand 
sesterces.4 

XXXVI. — A  Barber's  Implements 

THESE  instruments  are  suitable  for  the  cutting  of 
your  hair ;  this  one 5  is  serviceable  to  long  nails, 
that6  to  your  cheeks. 

XXXVIL— A  Bookcase 

UNLESS  you  provide  me  7  with  choice  books  I  will 
let  in  moths  and  savage  bookworms. 

4  The  price  is  meant  to  be  absurd.  The  securicula  was 
a  child's  ornament  or  toy:  cf. ..  Plaut.  Rud.  1159.  Such 
things  were  also  hung  round  children's  necks  as  amulets,  or 
as  proofs  of  identity.  6  CulielluR.  8  Novdcvla. 

7  The  scrinium  was  a  circular  case  (Ov.  Trint.  i.  i.  106)  for 
holding  books  and  papers. 

453 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XXXVIII. — Fasces  Calamorum 

DAT  chartis  habiles  calamos  Memphitica  tellus  ; 
texantur  reliqua  tecta  palude  tibi. 

XXXIX. — Lucerna  Cubicularis 

DULCIS  conscia  lectuli  lucerna, 
quidquid  vis  facias  licet,  tacebo. 

XTLi.—Cicindela 

ANCILLAM  tibi  sors  dedit  lucernae, 
totas  quae  vigil  exigit  tenebras. 

XLI- — Lucerna  Polymyxos 

INLUSTREM  cum  tota  meis  convivia  flammis 
totque  geram  myxas,  una  lucerna  vocor. 

XLIL— Cereus 

Hie  tibi  nocturnes  praestabit  cereus  ignis  : 
subducta  est  puero  namque  lucerna  tuo. 

XLIII. — Candelabrum  Corinthium 

NOMINA  candelae  nobis  antiqua  dederunt. 
non  norat  parcos  uncta  lucerna  patres. 

XLIV. — Candelabrum  Ligneum 

ESSE  vides  lignum ;  servas  nisi  lumina,  net 
de  candelabro  magna  lucerna  tibi. 


1  Candles  were  made  of  rope  or  rush  dipped  in  wax,  tallow, 
or  pitch  :  Varr.  De  Ling.  Lat.  v.  119  ;   Plin.  N.H.  xvi.  70. 
A    candle   was  a  poor   man's   light ;    hence    it   is   called  a 
"  handmaid  "  of  the  rich  man's  lamp  :  cf.  Juv.  iii.  287. 

2  Lamps   with   even  fourteen  wicks  have  been  found  at 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum. 

454 


BOOK    XIV.  XXXVIII-XLIV 

XXXVIII.  —Bundles  of  Pens 

THE  land  of  Memphis  supplies  reeds  handy  for 
writing  :  let  your  roof  be  thatched  with  the  reeds 
from  other  marshes. 

XXXIX. — A   Bedroom  Lamp 

I  AM  a  lamp,  privy  to  the  pleasures  of  your  couch  : 
you  may  do  what  you  will,  I  shall  be  silent. 

XL.— A  Candle1 

THE  lot  has  given  you  the  lamp's  handmaid,  which 
is  awake  and  dispels  complete  darkness. 

XLI. — A  Lamp  with  many  Wicks 

ALTHOUGH  I  illume  whole  entertainments  with  my 
flames,  and  carry  so  many  wicks,2  I  am  called  a  single 
lamp. 

XLIL— A    Taper 

THIS  taper  will  afford  you  light  by  night,  for  your 
lamp  has  been  stolen  from  your  slave. 

XLIII. — A   Corinthian  3  Candelabrum 

CANDLES  gave  me  my  name  of  old  ;  the  oil-lamp 
had  no  knowledge  of  our  thrifty  sires. 

XLIV. — A  Wooden  Candelabrum 

You  see  I  am  wood ;  unless  you  guard  the  light,  a 
great  lamp  will  be  made  of  your  candelabrum.4 

8  According  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xxxiv.  3),  there  were  three 
kinds  of  aes  Corinthium,  one  in  which  silver  was  the 
principal  ingredient,  another  in  which  gold,  and  a  third 
with  equal  proportions  of  gold  and  silver. 

4  The  wicks  will  set. fire  to  the  wood. 

455 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

XLV. — Pila  Paganica 

HAEC  quae  difficili  turget  paganica  pluma, 
folle  minus  laxast  et  minus  arta  pila. 

XLVI. — Pila   Trigonalis 

Si  me  mobilibus  scis  expulsare  sinistris, 

sum  tua.     tu  nescis  ?     rustice,  redde  pilam. 

XLVIL— Follis 

ITE  procul,  iuvenes  :  mitis  mihi  convenit  aetas  : 
folle  decet  pueros  ludere,  folle  senes. 

XLVIII.— Harpasta 

HAEC  rapit  Antaei  velox  in  pulvere  draucus, 
grandia  qui  vano  colla  labore  facit. 

XLIX.— Halteres 

QUID  pereunt  stulto  fortes  haltere  lacerti  ? 
exercet  melius  vinea  fossa  viros. 

L. — Galericu  lum 

NE  lutet  inmundum  nitidos  ceroma  capillos, 
hac  poteris  madidas  condere  pelle  comas. 

1  As  to  the  balls  mentioned  in  this  and  the  three  following 
epigrams,  cf.  iv.  xix.  5  seqq.,  and  vn.  xxxii.  7. 

a  cf.  vn.  Ixxii.  11.  3  i.e.  dnaedus:  cf.  IX.  xxvii.  10. 

4  i.e.  on  the  athletic  ground.  A.  was  a  Libyan  wrestler 
vanquished  by  Hercules  :  cf.  ix.  ci.  4.  The  development  of 
a  short,  muscular  neck  was  aimed  at  by  athletes  :  Juv.  iii. 
88  ;  and  see  Plin.  N.H.  xiv.  28  (pectorosa  cervicis  repandae 

456 


BOOK   XIV.  XLV-L 

XLV.— A  Feather-stuffed  Ball 

THIS  ball  which  swells  with  tightly -crammed 
feathers  is  less  flaccid  than  the  bladder-ball  and 
less  compact  than  a  hand-ball.1 

XL VI. — A  Ball  for  Ifie  Three-cornered  Game 
IF  you  know  how  to  bandy  me  with  your  nimble 
left-handers,2  I   am  yours.     Don't  you  know  how  ? 
You  clown,  give  back  the  ball. 

XLVII. — The  Bladder-ball 

Go  far  off,  you  young  men ;  unstrenuous  age  befits 
me  :  with  the  bladder-ball  it  becomes  boys  to  play, 
with  the  bladder-ball  old  men. 

XLVIII. — Scrimmage-balls 

THESE  the  dissolute  youth,3  who  with  empty  labour 
makes  big  his  neck,  swiftly  catches  at  on  the  dusty 
ground  of  Antaeus.4 

XLIX.— Dumb-bells 

WHY  is  strength  of  arm  wasted  on  the  silly5 
dumb-bell  ?  Trenching  a  vineyard  better  employs 
men. 

L. — A  Small  Cap 

That  the  wrestler's  dirty  oil  may  not  soil  your 
sleek  locks,  you  may  cover  your  moist  hair  with 
this  skin  cap.6 

ovtentatio).     In  this  case,  says  M.,  the  labour  is  vain,  for  it 
produces  nothing.     See  the  next  epigram. 

5  "  Stulta,   est    occupatio    exercendi    lacertos    et    dilatandi 
cervicem" :    Sen.   Ep.   15.     He   speaks    of    "  manuti  plu»il>o 
graves":  Ep.  56.      L)umb-bells  were  also  used  by  masculine 
women  at  the  baths  :  Juv.  vi.  421,  and  Mart.  VH.  Ixvii.  6. 

6  It  was  a  skull-cap  with  the  fur  outside. 

457 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LI. — Strigiles 

PERGAMON  has  misit.     curvo  destringere  ferro  : 
non  tarn  saepe  teret  lintea  fullo  tibi. 

LII. — Gutus  Corneus 

GESTAVIT  modo  fronte  me  iuvencus  : 
verum  rhinooerota  me  putabas. 

LIII.  —Rhinoceros 

NUPER  in  Ausonia  domini  spectatus  harena 
hie  erit  ille  tibi  cui  pila  taurus  erat. 

LIV. — Crepitacillum 

Si  quis  plorator  collo  tibi  vernula  pendet, 
haec  quatiat  tenera  garrula  sistra  manu. 

L  V. — Flagellum 

PROFICIES  nihil  hoc,  caedas  licet  usque,  flagello, 
si  tibi  purpureo  de  grege  currit  equus. 

LVI. — Dentifricium 

QUID  mecum  est  tibi  ?     me  puella  sumat : 
emptos  non  soleo  polire  dentes. 

1  i.e.  they  will  not  be  sent  to  him  so  dirty  :  c/1  x.  xi.  6. 

2  The   horn   was   so   big.      Oil-flasks  made  of   rhinoceros 
horn  were  used  at  the  baths  by  rich  men  :  Juv.  vii.  130. 

3  cf.  Sped.  ix.  4  ;  x.  Ixxxvi.  4. 

*  The  sistrum  was  originally  used  in  the  rites  of  Isis. 

458 


BOOK    XIV.   LI-LVI 

LI.  — Skin-scrapers 

.  PERGAMUS  sent  these ;  scrape  yourself  with  the 
curved  blade :  the  laundryman  will  not  so  often 
wear  out  your  towels.1 

LII.— A  Horn  Oil-flask 

A  STEER  bore  me  lately  on  his  forehead  :  you 
fancied  me  a  real  rhinoceros  horn.2 

LIII. — A  Rhinoceros-horn  Oil- flask 

THIS  shall  be  for  you,  that  horn,  lately  seen  in  our 
Master's  Italian  arena,  to  which  a  bull  was  as  a 
straw-dummy.3 

LIV.— A  Small  Rattle 

IF  any  little  home-born  slave  shall  hang  on  your 
neck  in  tears,  let  him  shake  this  noisy  rattle4  with 
his  infant  hand. 

LV.— A  Whip 

You  will  make  no  way  with  this  whip  though  you 
may  continually  use  the  lash,  if  your  courser  be  of 
the  Purple5  faction. 

LVI. — Dentifrice 

WHAT  have  you  to  do  with  me?6  Let  a  young 
maid  use  me :  I  am  not  wont  to  polish  purchased 
teeth. 

5  Which  was  nob  favoured  by  Domitian  any  more  than  the 
Blues  :  cf.  vi.  xlvi.,  although  it  and  the  Gold  had  been  added 
by  himself  :  Suet.  Dom.  vii. 

6  According  to  Pliny  (xxx.  8)  dentifrice  was  made  of  the 
ashes  of  dogs'  teeth  mixed  with  honey.     Pumice  was   also 
used :  xxxvi.  42. 

459 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LVII. — Myrobalanum 

QUOD  nee  Vergilius  nee  carmine  dicit  Homerus, 
hoc  ex  unguento  constat  et  ex  balano. 

LVIII. — Aphronitrum 

RUSTICUS  es  ?     nescis  quid  Graeco  nomine  dicar : 
spuma  vocor  nitri.     Graecus  es  ?     aphronitrum. 

LIX*. — Opobalsama 

BALSAMA  me  capiunt,  haec  sunt  unguenta  virorum 
delicias  Cosmi  vos  redolete,  nurus. 


LX. — Lomentum 

GRATUM  munus  erit  scisso  nee  inutile  ventri, 
si  clara  Stephani  balnea  luce  petes. 

LXI. — Lanterna  Cornea 

Dux  lanterna  viae  clusis  feror  aurea  flammis, 
et  tuta  est  gremio  parva  lucerna  meo. 


1  The  word  would  not  go  into  the  metre.     Myrobalanum 
is  described  by  Pliny  (N.H.  xii.  46)  as  the  fruit  of  a  tree 
found  in  the  Thebais  and  in  Arabia  with  a  leaf  like  that  of  a 
heliotrope,  the  fruit  being  of  the  size  of  a  filbert.     From  it 
was  extracted  an  oil  used  in  compounding  unguent.     The 
Encyclopaedia  calls  the  tree  the  horse-radish  tree  (Moringa 
pterygoftperma],  the  oil  being  oil  of  ben  used  by  perfumers. 

2  Spuma  nitri  was  prized,  and  prescribed  by  doctors  in 
pills  or  pastilles  :    Plin.  N.H.  xxxi.  46  (3)  ;   and  balls  of  it 
were  given  as  presents  :  Stat.  Silv.  IV.  ix.  37.     It  was  found 

460 


BOOK    XIV.  LVII-I.XI 

LVII. — Myrobalsam 

THIS,  which  neither  Virgil  nor  Homer  mentions  in 
his  poems,1  is  compounded  of  unguent  and  ben-nut. 

LVIH.— Saltpetre 

ARE  you  a  countryman  ?  You  do  not  know  what 
I  am  styled  by  a  Greek  name  :  I  am  called  the  froth 
of  nitre.  Are  you  a  Greek  ?  Aphronitrum.2 

LIX. — Opobalsam 

BALSAMS  3  attract  me  ;  these  are  the  unguents  of 
men  4  :  ye  matrons,  exhale  the  choice  perfumes  of 
Cosmus.5 

LX. — Bean-meal 

'TwiLL  be  a  welcome  gift,  and  one  not  without 
use  to  a  wrinkled  belly,  if  in  broad  daylight  you  go 
to  Stephanus'  bath.6 

LXI. — A  Horn  Lantern 

GUIDE  of  your  way  am  I  carried,  a  lantern  golden 
with  fenced  flame,  and  safe  in  my  bosom  is  a  small 
light. 

in  Asia  in  caves  called  colycae  as  a  distillation  from  the  rook, 
and  was  afterwards  dried  in  the  sun.  The  best  was  Lydian  : 
ibid. 

3  The  juice  of  the  balsam-tree  ;  called  balm  of  Gilead  or 
of  Mecca,  and  found,  according  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xii.  54)  only 
in  Judaea.  It  appears  to  have  become  known  in  Rome  in 
the  time  of  Pompey,  who  displayed  the  tree  in  one  of  his 
triumphs.  Pliny  gives  a  detailed  description. 

*  Juv.  (ii.  41)  seems  to  have  been  of  a  different  opinion. 

5  cf,  in.  Iv.  1  ;  xi.  viii.  9.  '  c/.  in.  xlii.  1. 

461 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXII.  —  Lanterna  de  Vesica 

CORNEA  si  non  sum,  numquid  sum  fuscior?     aut  me 
vesicam;  contra  qui  venit,  esse  putat  ? 


.—  Fistula 

QUID  me  cqnpactam  ceris  et  harundine  rides  ? 
quae  primum  structa  est  fistula  talis  erat. 

LXIV.—  Tibiae 

EBRIA  nos  madidis  rumpit  tibicina  buccis  : 
saepe  duas  pariter,  saepe  monaulon  habet. 

LXV.  —  Soleae  Lanatae 

DEFUERIT  si  forte  puer  soleasque  libebit 
sumere,  pro  puero  pes  erit  ipse  sibi. 

LXVI.  —  Mamittare 

TAURINO  poteras  pectus  constringere  tergo  : 
nam  pellis  mammas  non  capit  ista  tuas. 

LXVII.  —  Muscarium  Pavoninum 

LAMBERE  quae  turpes  prohibet  tua  prandia  muscas, 
alitis  eximiae  cauda  superba  fuit. 


1  By  the  god  Pan  :  cf.  Verg.  Ed.  ii.  32. 

2  Two  pipes  were  sometimes  played,  and  they  were  pares 
or  impares,  the  former  being  of  the  same  length,  the  latter 

462 


BOOK    XIV.  LXII-LXVII 

LXII. — A  Lantern  made  of  Bladder 

IF  I  be  not  of  horn,  am  I  the  dimmer  ?  or  does  he 
that  meets  me  think  me  a  bladder  ? 

LXIIL— A  Pipe  of  Reed 

WHY  do  you  laugh  at  me,  compact  of  wax  and 
reed  ?  The  first  pipe  that  was  made1  was  such  as  I. 

LXIV.— Flutes 

THE  drunken  flautist  bursts  our  ears  with  her 
bibulous  cheeks  ;  often  she  uses  two  pipes  at  once, 
often  only  one.2 

LXV. —  Wool-lined  Slippers 

IF  it  happens  your  slave  is  not  at  hand,  and  you 
want  to  put  on  your  house-shoes,  your  foot  will  itself 
be  its  own  slave.3 

LXVI. — A  Bosom-band 

"  WITH  a  bull's  hide " 4  you  might  well  have 
braced  up  your  bosom ;  for  this  skin  stomacher  of 
yours  is  too  small  for  your  breasts. 

LXVII. — A  Peacock's  Feather  Fly-jlap 

THIS  which  forbids  foul  flies  to  taste  your  meal  was 
the  proud  tail  of  a  peerless  bird. 

of  unequal  length.  The  right-hand  pipe  was  the  bass  or 
manly  pipe,  the  left-hand  one  the  treble  or  womanly  pipe. 

8  i.e.  it  will  slip  easily  into  the  slippers. 

*  An  allusion  to  Verg.  Aen.  i.  368  (Taurino  quantum 
possent  circumdare  tergo). 

463 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXVIIL— Copta  Rhodiaca 

PECCANTIS  famuli  pugno  ne  percute  denies  : 
clara  Rhodes  coptam  quam  tibi  misit  edat. 

LXIX. — Priapus  Siligineus 

Si  vis  esse  satur,  nostrum  potes  esse  Priapum ; 
ipsa  licet  rodas  inguina,  purus  eris. 

LXX. — Porous 

ISTE  tibi  faciet  bona  Saturnalia  porcus, 
inter  spumantes  ilice  pastus  apros. 

LXXI. — Muscarium  Bubulum 

SOUDIDA  si  flavo  fuerit  tibi  pulvere  vestis, 
corrigat  hoc  :  tenui  verbere  cauda  levis. 

LXXIL— Botulus 

Qui  venit  botulus  mediae  tibi  tempore  brumae, 
Saturni  septem  venerat  ante  dies. 

LXXIIL— PsiUacus 

PSITTACUS  a  vobis  aliorum  nomina  discam  : 
hoc  didici  per  me  dicere  "Caesar  have." 

1  corrigat   hoc  Postgate,   coll.  luv.   xiv.   67,  colligat  hunc 
codd. 

1  The  Rhodian  biscuit  was  very  hard.     There  may  be  also 
a  play  upon  the  name  copta  and  the  Greek  it6-m<-iv  (to  beat). 

464 


BOOK    XIV.  Lxviii-Lxxiii 

LXVIII. — Rhodian  Pastry 

DON'T  strike  with  your  fist  the  teeth  of  your 
offending  servant ;  let  him  eat  the  biscuit  illustrious 
Rhodes  has  sent  you.1 

LXIX. — A   Priaptis  made  from  Flour 

IF  you  want  to  satisfy  your  hunger  you  can  eat  my 
Priapus;  you  may  gnaw  his  very  appendage,2  yet  you 
will  be  undefined. 

LXX.—  A  Pig 

THIS  pig  will  make  you  a  "  Good  Saturnalia  "  :  he 
was  fed  on  acorns  among  the  foaming  boars. 

LXXL— An  Ox-tail  Brush 

IF  your  dress  has  been  soiled  with  yellow  dust  let 
this  light  ox-tail  emend  this  with  a  gentle  flap. 

LXXII. — A  Sausage 

THE  sausage  that  has  reached  you  at  the  mid- 
season  of  winter  had  i-eached  me  before  Saturn's 
seven  days.2 

LXXIIL— A  Parrot 

I,  A  PARROT,  will  learn  of  you  the  names  of  others  : 
this  I  learned  of  my  own  accord  to  say,  "  Caesar, 
hail !  "  4 

2  cf  vi.  xlix.  2.  The  Priapus  was  sometimes  stuffed,  e.g. 
with  apples  and  grapes  :  Petr.  60. 

8  Dec.  17-23.  The  sender  had  received  the  sausage  as  a 
present,  and  now  passes  it  on  to  another  person. 

4  cf.  note  to  in.  xcv.  2. 

465 

VOL.   II.  H     II 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

LXXIV.— Corvus 

CORVE  salutator,  quare  fellator  haberis  ? 
in  caput  intravit  mentula  nulla  tuum. 

LXXV. — Luscinia 

FLET  Philomela  nefas  incesti  Tereos^  et  quae 
muta  puella  fuit,  garrula  fertur  avis. 

LXXVI.— Pica 

PICA  loquax  certa  dominum  te  voce  saluto : 
si  me  non  videas,  esse  negabis  avem. 

LXXVII.— Cavea  Eborea 

Si  tibi  talis  erit,  qualem  dilecta  Catullo 
Lesbia  plorabat,  hie  habitare  potest. 

LXXVIII. — Narthecium 

ARTIS  ebur  medicae  narthecia  cernis  :  habebis 
munera  quae  cuperet  Paccius  esse  sua. 

LXXIX.— Flagra 

LUDITE  lascivi,  sed  tantum  ludite,  servi : 
haec  signata  mihi  quinque  diebus  erunt. 

1  Pliny  (N.H.  x.  15)  says  :  "  Ore  <i08  parere  aut  coire  vulgun 
arbitratur  .  .  .  Aristoteles  negat  .  .  .  sed  illam  oscidalionem, 
quae  saepe  cernitur,  qualem  in  columbis,  e.sse."  See  Arist. 
De  Gen.  Anim.  iii.  6,  who  traces  the  vulgar  opinion  to 
Anaxagoras. 

-  T.,  king  of  Thrace,  offered  violence  to  Philomela,  his 
sister-in-law,  and  cut  out  her  tongue  to  prevent  her  revealing 
the  crime.  P.  was  changed  into  a  nightingale. 

466 


BOOK    XIV.  LXXIV-LXXIX 

LXXIV.— A  Raven 

O  CORVO  salutatore,  perche  sei  tu  tenuto  un  fella- 
tore?  Veruna  mentola  entr6  nella  tua  bocca.1 

LXXV.— A  Nightingale 

PHILOMELA  laments  the  crime  of  incestuous  Te- 
reus  : 2  she  who  was  a  silent  maiden  is  acclaimed  as 
a  bird  of  song. 

LXXVI.^-J  Magpie 

A  CHATTERING  pie,3  I  with  intelligible  voice  salute 
you,  my  master ;  did  you  not  see  me  you  will  say  I 
am  no  bird. 

LXXVII. — An  Ivory  Cage 

IF  you  shall  have  such  a  bird  4  as  Lesbia,  beloved 
of  Catullus,  mourned,  here  it  can  dwell. 

LXXVIIL— A  Medicine  Chest 

You  see  a  medicine  chest,  the  ivory  equipment  of 
a  doctor's  art :  you  will  have  a  gift  which  Paccius5 
would  wish  his  own. 

LXXIX.—  Whips 

PLAY,  ye  jovial  slaves,  but  play  only  ;  I  will  keep 
these  sealed  up  for  five  days.6 

3  cf.  vii.  Ixxxvii.  6  ;  ix.  liv.  9.   Petr.  28  describes  a  magpie 
in  a  golden  cage  that  saluted  all  who  entered. 

4  A  sparrow  :  cf.  Cat.  ii.  and  iii. 

5  A  physician.    Juv.  (xii.  99)  mentions  a  Paceius,  an  orbus, 
who  may  be  the  same.     The  narlhecium  was,  as  its  name 
implies,  made  in  the  shape  of  a  joint  of  the  giant  fennel 


6  Slaves  during  the  Saturnalia  were  allowed  a  degree  of 
licence. 

467 

U     H    9 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXX.--.Ferw/ae 

INVISAE  minium  pueris  grataeque  magistris, 
clara  Prometheo  inunere  ligna  sumus. 

LXXXI.— Pern 

NE  mendica  ferat  barbati  prandia  nudi, 
dormiat  et  tristi  cum  cane,  pera  rogat. 

LXXXIL— Scopae 

IN  pretio  scopas  testatur  palma  fuisse. 
otia  sed  scopis  nunc  analecta  dedit. 

LXXXIII. — Scalptorium  Eboreum 

DEFENDET  manus  haec  scapulas  mordente  molesto 
pulice,  vel  si  quid  pulice  sordidius. 

LXXXIV.— Manuale 

NE  toga  barbatos  faciat  vel  paenula  libros, 
haec  abies  chartis  tempora  longa  dabit. 

LXXXV. — Lectus  Pavoninus 

NOMINA  dat  spondae  pictis  pulcherrima  pinnis 
nunc  lunonis  avis,  sed  prius  Argus  erat. 

1  Prometheus,  according  to  the  myth,  brought  fire  from 
Heaven  in  the  stem  of  the  giant  fennel  (ferula  or  vdpdri£), 
and  gave  it  to  men. 

2  Used  as  a  pillow.     The  Cynics,  in  imitation  of  beggars, 
equipped  themselves  with  a  staff  and  wallet :  cf.  iv.  liii.  3. 

3  cf.  Hor.  Sat.  n.  iv.  83.   As  to  the  analecta,  cf.  vii.  xx.  17. 

4  It  was  in  the  shape  of  a  hand. 

468 


BOOK   XIV.  LXXX-LXXXV 

LXXX. — Ferules 

HATED  much  by  boys  and  welcome  to  school- 
masters, we  are  the  wood  made  famous  by  Pro- 
metheus' gift.1 

LXXXL— A  Wallet 

THAT  he  may  not  carry  the  mendicant  scraps  of  a 
half-clad  bearded  philosopher,  nor  sleep2  with  a  sour 
cynic,  is  the  prayer  of  the  wallet. 

LXXXII. — Brooms 

THE  palm-tree  testifies  that  brooms  were  once 
in  demand,3  but  the  crumb-collector  has  now  given 
a  rest  to  brooms. 

LXXXIII.—  An  Ivory  Scratcher  . 
THIS  hand4  will  protect  your  shoulder-blades  when 
an  irritating  flea  is  biting  you,  or  any  insect  fouler 
than  a  flea. 

LXXXIV.—  A  Wooden  Book-holder 
To  prevent  your  toga  or  cloak  making  your  books 
frayed,    this    fir-wood    will    give    long    life   to    your 
paper. 

LXXXV. — A  Couch  of  Peacock-veined  Citrus-wood 
THE  bird,  most  lovely  with  its  painted  plumage, 
gives  its  name  to  a  couch ; 5    it  is  now  the  bird  of 
Juno,  but  once  it  was  Argus.6  , 

5  Couches  of  citrus  wood  variegated  by  wavy  lines,  as  on  a 
peacock's  tail,  were  valued  :  Plin.  N.H.  xiii.  30. 

8  Argus  had  a  hundred  ejes,  of  which  two  only  slept  at  a 
time.  Juno  set  him  to  watch  lo,  whom  Jupiter  had  turned 
into  a  heifer.  Argus  was  afterwards  turned  into  a  peacock 
with  the  eyes  in  the  tail. 

469 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

LXXXVI.  — Ephippium 

STRAGULA  succinct!  venator  sume  veredi : 
nam  solet  a  nudo  surgere  ficus  equo. 

LXXXVIL— Stibadia 

ACCIPE  lunata  scriptum  testudine  sigma. 
octo  capit ;  veniat  quisquis  amicus  erit. 

LXXXVIII. — Gustalorium 

FEMINEAM  nobis  cherson  si  credis  inesse, 
deciperis  :  pelagi  mascula  praeda  sumus. 

LXXXIX.— Mensa  Citrea 

ACCIPE  felices,  Atlantica  munera,  silvas  : 
aurea  qui  dederit  dona,  minora  dabit. 

XC. — Mensa  Acerna 

NON  sum  crispa  quidem  nee  silvae  filia  Maurae, 
sed  norunt  lautas  et  mea  ligna  dapes. 

XCI. — Denies  Eborei 

GRANDIA  taurorum  portant  qui  corpora,  quaeris 
an  Libycas  possint  sustinuisse  trabes  ? 

1  The  ephippium  was  soft,  being  more  like  a  cushion  than 
a  saddle. 

2  IB  the  shape  of  the  Greek  s,  which  was  often  written  in 
the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe  :  cf.  x.  xlviii.  6. 

8  (Shell  from  the  sea-tortoise  (?  turtle)  was  held  superior  to 
that  of  the  land-tortoise,  and  the  male  shell  was  superior  to 
the  female.  According  to  Pliny  (N.H.  ix.  12)  the  land- 
tortoises  were  called  chersinae  and  were  found  in  African 
deserts,  where  they  subsisted  on  dew. 

470 


BOOK    XIV.  LXXXVI-XCI 

LXXXVL— A  Pad-saddle 

TAKE,  hunter,  the  housing  of  a  nimble  steed,  for 
from  a  bare-backed  horse  piles  are  wont  to  spring.1 

LXXXVII. — A  Semi-circular  Couch 
RECEIVE  a  horse-shoe  couch  2  inlaid  with  crescent 
lines  of  tortoise-shell.     It  takes  eight :  let  everyone 
come  who  shall  be  my  friend. 

LXXXVIIL— A  Buffet 

IF  you  think  shell  of  a  female  land-tortoise  is  part 
of  me,  you  are  deceived  :  I  am  the  male  catch  of 
the  sea.3 

LXXXIX.— A  Citrus-wood  Table 
RECEIVE  this  wood  of  a  fruitful  tree,  the  offering 
of  Atlas  :    he  who  shall  give  you  golden   gifts  will 
give  you  less.4 

XC.— A  Maple  Table 

I  AM  indeed  not  veined,  nor  the  daughter  of  a 
Moorish  forest,5  but  even  my  wood  knows  sumptuous 
feasts. 

XCI. — Ivory  Tusks. 

TUSKS  that  upbear  the  huge  bodies  of  bulls  6 — do 
you  ask  whether  they  can  uphold  tables  of  Libyan 
wood  ?  7 

4  The  citrux  (a  kind  of  cypress,  Thuja  articutata,  the 
Greek  8va  or  Qvov)  came  from  Mauretania,  in  N.-W.  Africa  : 
Plin.  N.H.  xiii.  29,  30.  Round  table  tops  (orbex)  were  made 
of  it,  for  which  incredible  sums  were  often  paid. 

6  i.e.  neither  veined  (a  feature  greatly  valued  :  Plin.  N.H. 
xiii.  30)  nor  citrus.     Maple  was  second  to  citrus  :  Plin.  N.If. 
xvi.  26  ;  and  one  species  was  also  peacock-veined  :  ihid. 

a  cf.  Sped.  xix. 

7  i.e.  the  citrus  table  tops  mentioned  in  Ixxxix. 

471 


THE  EPIGRAMS  OF  MARTIAL 

XCII. — Qtiinquepedal 

PUNCTA  notis  ilex  et  acuta  cuspide  clusa 
saepe  redemptoris  prodere  furta  solet. 

XCIII. — Pocula  Archetypa 

NON  est  ista  recens  nee  nostri  gloria  caeli : 
primus  in  his  Mentor,  dum  facit  ilia,  bibit. 

XCIV. — Calices  Audaces 

Nos  sumus  audacis  plebeia  toreumata  vitri, 
nostra  neque  ardenti  gemma  feritur  aqua. 

XCV. — Phiala  Aurea  Caelata 

QUAMVIS  Callaico  rubeam  generosa  rnetallo, 
glorior  arte  magis  :  nam  Myos  iste  labor. 

XCVI. — Calices  Vatinii 

VILIA  sutoris  calicem  monimenta  Vatini 
accipe  ;  sed  nasus  longior  ille  fuit. 

XCVII. — Lances  Chrysendetae 

GRANDIA  ne  viola  parvo  chrysendeta  mullo  : 
ut  minimum,  libras  debet  habere  duas. 

1  A  celebrated  chaser  in  silver  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  : 
c/.  in.  xli.  1  ;  iv.  xxxix.  5. 

2  <•/.  xii.  Ixxiv.  3. 

3  cf.  vni.  xxxiv.  1.     He  engraved  the  figures  on  the  shield 
of  Athene  Promachus  in  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 

472 


BOOK   XIV.  xcii-xcvn 

XCIL— A  Five-foot  Rule 

AN  oaken  rule,  marked  off  into  lengths  and  ending 
in  a  sharp  point,  is  often  apt  to  detect  a  contractor's 
fraud. 

XCIII. — Antique  Cups 

THAT  is  no  recent  work,  nor  pride  of  Roman  chisel ; 
Mentor1  made  these  cups  and  first  drank  from  them. 

XCIV. — Dreadnought  Cups 

WE  are  plebeian  chased  cups  of  dreadnought 2 
glass,  and  our  ware  is  not  cracked  by  boiling 
water. 

XCV.— A   Chased  Gold  Bowl 

THOUGH  1  am  noble  and  ruddy  with  Gallician  ore, 
I  glory  more  in  my  workmanship,  for  of  Mys 3  was 
the  labour  you  see. 

XCVI. — Vatinian  Cups 

RECEIVE  a  cup,  a  memento  of  cobbler  Vatinius,4 
but  that  nose  was  longer. 

XCVIL— Gold-inlaid  Dishes 

Do  not  insult  large  gold-inlaid  dishes5  with  a  small 
mullet :  at  the  least  it  ought  to  weigh  two  pounds. 

4  Of  Beneventum,  who  gave  his  name  to  glassware  with 
long  spouts  like  noses :  cf.  x.  iii.  3,  4  ;  and  Juv.  v.  46.  He 
was  a  buffoon  and  delator  in  the  time  of  Nero. 

6  Chrysendeta  appear  to  be  silver  dishes  with  gold  orna- 
ments inlaid  or  in  relief  :  cf.  n.  xliii.  11  ;  vi.  xciv.  1. 

473 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

XCVIIL— Vasa  Arretina 

ARRETINA  nimis  ne  spernas  vasa  monemus  : 
lautus  erat  Tuscis  Porsena  fictilibus. 


X  CIX . — Bascauda 

BARBARA  de  pictis  veni  bascauda  Britannis, 
sed  me  iam  mavolt  dicere  Roma  suam. 


C. — Panaca 

Si  non  ignota  est  docti  tibi  terra  Catulli, 
potasti  testa  Raetica  vina  mea. 

CI. — Boleiaria 

CUM  mihi  boleti  dederint  tarn  nobile  nomen, 
prototomis  (pudet  heu !)  servio  coliculis. 

GIL — Calices  Surrentini 

ACCIPE  non  vili  calices  de  pulvere  natos, 
sed  Surrentinae  leve  toreuma  rotae. 


CHI. — Colum  Nivarium 

SETINOS,  moneo,  nostra  nive  frange  trientes  : 
pauperiore  mero  tinguere  lina  potes. 


1  Earthenware  :  cf.  i.  liii.  6.    Pliny  (N.H.  xxxv.  46)  speaks 
of  the  nobilita*  of  the  red  Samian  ware  of  Arretium. 

2  King  of  Etruria,  who  besieged  Rome  in  the  sixth  century 
B.C. 

3  Nothing  is   known  of  this.     The  Panaci   seem  to  be  a 
Rhaetian  people. 

474 


BOOK   XIV.  XCVIH-CIII 

XCVIII. — Arretian  Vases 

WE  advise  you  not  overmuch  to  despise  Arretian  l 
vases :  Tuscan  earthenware  was  luxury  to  Porsena.2 

XCIX.— A  Basket 

I  HAVE  come,  a  barbarian  basket,  from  the  woad- 
stained  Britons ;  but  Rome  now  prefers  to  call  me 
her  own. 

C. — A   Panacian  Crock  3 

IF  the  country  of  the  elegant  Catullus  is  not  un- 
known to  you,  you  have  drunk  Rhaetian  wine  from 
my  crock. 

CI. — Mushroom  Boilers 

ALTHOUGH  mushrooms  have  given  me  so  noble  a 
name,  yet  I  am  a  slave* — alas !  I  am  ashamed  to  own 
it — to  early  greens. 

GIL — Surrentine  Chalices 

RECEIVE  chalices  not  sprung  of  common  clay, 
but  the  smooth  embossed  work  of  a  Surrentine 
potter's-wheel.4  ; 

CIII. — A  Strainer  for  Wine  and  Snow 

WITH  the  snow  I  contain,  I  warn  you,  subdue  your 
cups  of  Setine  : 5  in  a  poorer  wine  you  may  dip  linen 
bags. 

4  Pliny  classes  Surrentine  earthenware  cups  for  excellence 
with  those  from  Asta  and  Pollentia,  and  from  Saguntum  in 
Spain  :  N.IL  xxxv.  46. 

5  c/.  v.  Ixiv.  2.     The  colum  nivarinm  was  a  metal  colander 
in  which  a  lump  of  frozen  snow  was  placed,  and  the  wine 
was  strained  through  it  into  the  cup  or  other  wine  vessel. 

475 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CIV. — Saccus  Nivarius 

ATTENUARE  nives  norunt  et  lintea  nostra  : 
frigidior  colo  non  salit  unda  tuo. 

CV. — Urceoli  Ministratorii 

FRIGIDA  non  derit,  non  derit  calda  petenti. 
sed  tu  morosa  ludere  parce  siti. 

CVI. —  Urceus  Fictilis 

Hie  tibi  donatur  panda  ruber  urceus  ansa. 
Stoicus  hoc  gelidam  Fronto  petebat  aquam. 

CVII— Cqlatki 

Nos  Satyri,  nos  Bacchus  amat,  nos  ebria  tigris, 
perfusos  domini  lambere  docta  pedes. 

CVIII. — Calices  Saguntini 

QUAE  non  sollicitus  teneat  servetque  minister 
sume  Saguntino  pocula  facta  luto. 

CIX. — Calices  Gemmati 

GEMMATUM  Scythicis  ut  luceat  ignibus  aurum 
aspice.     quot  digitos  exuit  iste  calix  ! 

1  According  to  Pliny  barley  meal  was  sometimes  put  into 
the  saccus  to  mitigate  the  strength  of  the  wine  :  N.H.  xxiv.  1. 

2  A   calathus   was   a    drinking   vessel  in    the    shape  of   a 
woman's  workbasket. 

3  Bacchus. 

476 


BOOK    XIV.  civ-cix 

CIV. — A  Bag  for  Straining  through  Snow 

MY  linen  also  knows  how  to  liquefy  snow  :  no 
colder  spirts  the  water  from  your  strainer.1 

CV. — Small  Jugs  for  Table-service 

COLD  water  will  not  be  wanting ;  there  will  not  be 
wanting  hot,  if  you  ask  for  it ;  but  do  not  you  be 
dainty  with  a  craving  thirst. 

CVI. — An  Earthenware  Jug 

HERE  is  given  you  a  red  jug  with  a  spreading 
handle :  Stoic  Pronto  used  to  go  to  this  for  cold 
water. 

CVIL— Tankards'* 

THE  Satyrs  love  us,  Bacchus  loves  us ;  us,  too,  the 
drunken  tigress  which  has  been  taught  to  lick  the 
wine-dabbled  feet  of  her  master.3 

CVIII. — Saguntine  Chalices 

TAKE  cups  made  of  Saguntine  clay,  which  without 
anxiety4  your  servant  may  handle  and  guard. 

CIX. — Gemmed  Chalices 

SEE  how  the  gold  gleams,  gemmed  with  the  fire 
of  Scythian  emeralds !  How  many  fingers  has  that 
chalice  stripped ! 5 

4  They  are  "  dreadnought":  cf.  xn.  Ixxiv.  3,  and  Ep.  xciv. 
supra.  M.  speaks  poorly  of  Saguntine  clay-ware ;  cf.  vm. 
vi.  2  ;  but  Pliny  praises  it :  N.H.  xxxv.  46. 

6  Rich  men  often  ornamented  their  cups  with  jewels  from 
their  finger  rings  :  cf.  Juv.  v.  42. 

477 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CX. — Ampulla  Potoria 

HAC  licet  in  gemma,  servat  quae  nomina  Cosmi, 
luxuriose,  bibas,  si  foliata  sitis. 

CXI. — Crystallina 

FRANGERE  dum  metuis,  franges  crystallina  :  peccant  > 
securae  iiimium  sollicitaeque  manus. 

CXII. — Nimbus  Vitreus 

A  IOVE  qui  veniet,  miscenda  ad  pocula  largas 
fundet  nimbus  aquas :  hie  tibi  vina  dabit. 

CXI  II.—  Murrina 

Si  caldum  potas,  ardenti  murra  Falerno 
convenit  et  melior  fit  sapor  inde  mero. 

CXIV.— Patella  Cumana 

HANC  tibi  Cumaao  rubicundam  pulvere  testam 
municipem  misit  casta  Sibylla  suam. 

1  i.e.  the  flask  will  flavour  the  wine.     Nard  and  other  per- 
fumes were  however  often  mixed  with  wine  :  Juv.  vi.  303, 
464  ;  and  foliata  alludes  to  this  practice.     Thefoliatum  was 
the  same  as  nardinum,  a  mixture  of    spikenard  and  other 
perfumes,  a  list  of  which  is  given  in  Pliny  (N.H.  xiii.  2). 

2  A  nimbus  (lit.  storm-cloud)  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
glass  vessel  with  apertures  for  sprinkling  wine,  like'a  water- 
ing-pot.     The  name  may  have  been  derived  from  the  cloud 
on  the  glass  caused  by  the  snow-cooled  wine. 

3  Murra  was  perhaps  a  natural  earth,  and  may  have  been 

478 


BOOK    XIV.  cx-cxiy 

CX . — A   Drin  king-flask 

IN  this  jewelled  flask  that  bears  the  name  of 
Cosmus  you  may  drink,  luxurious  man,  if  your  thirst 
is  for  perfumed  wine.1 

CXI. — Crystal  Cups 

So  long  as  you  fear  to  break  them,  you  will  break 
crystal  cups :  hands  too  careless  and  too  anxious 
alike  offend. 

CXII. — A   Glass  Sprinkler 

THE  storm-cloud  that  comes  from  Jove  will  pour 
you  water  in  plenty  to  blend  your  cups:  this  one 
will  give  you  wine.2 

CXIII—  Murrine  Cups 

IF  you  drink  your  wine  warm,  murrine  3  suits  the 
burning  Falernian,  and  better  flavour  comes  there- 
from to  the  wine. 

CXIV.—  A  Platter  from  Cumae 

THIS  platter,  her  own  townsman,  ruddy  with  the 
soil  of  Cumae,  the  chaste  Sibyl 4  has  sent  you. 

spar  :  Plin.  N.H.  xxxvii.  8.  See  the  authorities  collected  in 
Mayor's  note  to  Juv.  vii.  133.  Murrine  vases  have  however 
been  regarded  as  porcelain,  and  porcelain  vases  agreeing  with 
Pliny's  description  are  said  to  have  been  found.  These  vases 
were  first  brought  to  Rome  by  Pompey  after  his  victory  over 
Mithridates  in  B.C.  63.  Enormous  sums  were  paid  for  them, 
Nero  paying  300  talents  (say  £60,000)  for  a  drinking  cup. 

*  cj.  ix.  xxix.  3.  The  ware  in  question  is  the  red  Arretian  : 
cf.  xcviii.;  which  was  made  also  at  Capua  and  Cumae  in  the 
first  century. 

479 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXV.— Calices  Vitrei 

ASPICIS  ingenium  Nili :  quibus  addere  plura 
dum  cupit,  a  quotiens  perdidit  auctor  opus ! 

CXVI. — Lagona  Nivaria 

SPOLETINA  bibis  vel  Marsis  condita  cellis : 
quo  tibi  decoctae  nobile  frigus  aquae  ? 


CXVII— Idem 

NON  potare  nivem  sed  aquam  potare  recentem  l 
de  nive  commenta  est  ingeniosa  sitis. 

CXVIIL— Idem 

MASSILIAE  fumos  miscere  nivalibus  undis 
parce,  puer,  constet  ne  tibi  pluris  aqua. 

CXIX.— Matella  Fictilis 

DUM  poscor  crepitu  digitorum  et  verna  moratur, 

0  quotiens  paelex  culcita  facta  mea  est ! 

CXX. — Ligula  Argentea 

QUAMVIS  me  ligulam  dicant  equitesque  patresque, 
dicor  ab  indoctis  lingula  grammaticis. 

1  rigentem  fiy. 

1  Excessive  ornamentation.     The  allusion  appears  to  be  to 
diatre.ta,  which  were  chalices  made  in  one  piece  with  a  net- 
work ornamentation  :  cf.  xn.  Ixx.  9. 

2  These  wines  were  inferior  :  cf.  xm.  cxx.  and  cxxi. 

480 


BOOK    XIV.  cxv-cxx 

CXV. — Glass  Chalices 

You  observe  the  ingenuity  of  Egypt.  Ah,  how 
often  has  the  artist,  in  wishing  to  make  additions,1 
ruined  his  work ! 

CXVL— A  Flagon  for  Iced  Water 

You  drink  Spoletine,  or  wine  stored  in  Marsian  2 
cellars  :  what  is  the  use  to  you  of  the  noble  coolness 
of  boiled  water  ?  3 

CXVII.— The  Same 

THE  drinking,  not  of  snow,  but  of  water  fresh 
from  the  snow,  the  ingenuity  of  thirst  has  devised.4 

CXVIIL— The  Same 

BOY,  forbear  to  mix  Massilia's  smoke 5  with  iced 
water,  that  the  water  may  not  cost  you  more  than 
the  wine. 

CXIX. — An  Earthen  Chamber-utensil 

WHILE  I  am  called  for  by  a  snapping  of  the  fingers,6 
and  the  home-born  slave  lingers,  oh,  how  often  has  a 

pillow  been  made  my  rival ! 

• 

CXX.— A  Silver  Spoon 

HOWEVER  much  both  knights  and  senators  may 
call  me  ligula,  I  am  called  by  ignorant  grammarians  7 
lingula. 

3  Decocta  (as  to  which  cf.  II.  Ixxxv.  1)  is  wasted  on  them. 

4  cf.  v.  Ixiv.  2.          6  cf.  x.  xxxvi.  1  ;  xin.  exxiii.  2. 

6  cf.  in.  Ixxxii.  15. 

7  Who  pedantically  insist  on  the  etymology  from  lingua, 
and  disregard  use. 

481 

VOL.   II.  I    I 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CXXI. — Coclearia 

SUM  cocleis  habilis  sed  nee  minus  utilis  ovis. 
numquid  scis,  potius  cur  cocleare  vocer  ? 

CXXIL— Anuli 

ANTE  frequens  sed  nunc  rarus  nos  donat  amicus. 
felix  cui  comes  est  non  alienus  eques. 

CXXIII. — Dactyliotheca 

SAEPE  gravis  digitis  elabitur  anulus  unctis ; 
tuta  mea  net  sed  tua  gemma  fide. 

CXXIV.— Toga 

"  ROMANOS  rerum  dominos  gentemque  togatam  " 
ille  facit,  magno  qui  dedit  astra  patri. 

CXXV.—  Idem 

Si  matutinos  facilest  tibi  perdere  somnos, 
attrita  veniet  sportula  saepe  toga. 

1  The  cocl(are  was  a  spoon  with  a  point  at  one  end,  and 
smaller  (c/.  vin.  Ixxi.  9,  10)  than  the  liyula.  The  point  was 
used  to  pick  snails  (coclece)  or  shellfish  out  of  their  shells  ; 
hence  the  name.  Petr.  33  speaks  of  coclearia  of  "not  less 
than  half  a  pound "  weight  used  for  eating  eggs,  but  then 
they  were  Tritnalchio's  spoons.  Pliny  (N.ff,  xxviii.  4)  tells 
us  that  it  was  a  superstition  to  perforate  empty  egg-shells 
as  a  defence  against  evil  spells. 

482 


BOOK    XIV.  cxxi-cxxv 

CXXI. — A  Snail-pick 

I  AM  convenient  for  eating  snails,  and  no  less  use- 
ful for  eating  eggs.  Do  you  know  why  I  am  rather 
called  a  snail-pick  ? * 

CXXIL— Rings 

FORMERLY  many  a  friend  gave  us  as  presents,  but 
now  here  and  there  a  friend.  Happy  is  he  whose 
comrade  is  a  knight  he  himself  has  made  ! 2 

CXXIIL— A  Ring-case* 

OFTEN  a  heavy  ring  slips  from  fingers  moist  with 
unguent ;  but  your  gem  will  be  made  safe  in  my 
faithful  charge. 

CXXIV.— A   Toga 

HE  makes  the  Romans  "lords  of  the  world  and 
the  race  that  wears  the  toga," 4  who  granted-  his 
mighty  sire  immortality.5 

CXXV.— The  Same 

IF  it  comes  easily  to  you  to  lose  your  morning 
sleep,  by  wearing  out  your  toga6  a  dole  will  often 
come  to  you. 

2  i.e.  whose  qualification  he  has  supplied  (cf.  v.  xix.  10), 
and  whose  gratitude  he  looks  for.  The  ring  was  the  mark 
of  a  knight :  cf.  vni.  v.  2.  8  cj.  XI.  lix.  4. 

4  A  quotation  from  Verg.  Aen.  i.  282. 

6  Domitian,  who  founded  a  temple  to  the  Flavian  family 
(cf.   ix.    i.   8),  and   also  enjoined   the   use  of  the  toga   at 
spectacles  :  cf.  iv.  ii.  4. 
"  °  By  constant  attendance  at  levees  :  cf.  ix.  c.  5. 

483 
i  i  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXXVL— Endromis 

PAUPERIS  est  munus  sed  non  est  pauperis  usus  : 
hanc  tibi  pro  laena  mittimus  endromida. 

CXXVII. — Canusinae  Fuscae 

HAEC  tibi  turbato  Canusina  simillima  mulso 
munus  erit.     gaude  :  non  cito  fiet  anus. 

CXX  VIII.  —  Bardocucullus 

GALLIA  Santonico  vestit  te  bardocucullo. 
cercopithecorum  paenula  nuper  erat. 

CXXIX. — Canusinae  Rufae 

ROMA  magis  fuscis  vestitur,  Gallia  ruffs, 
et  placet  hie  pueris  militibusque  color. 

,  CXXX. — Paenula  Scortea 

[NGUEDIARE  viam  caelo  licet  usque  sereno, 
ad  subitas  nusquam  1  scortea  desit  aquas. 

CXXXI. — Lacernae  Coccineae 

Si  veneto  prasinove  faves,  quid  coccina  sumes  ? 
ne  fias  ista  transfuga  sorte  vide. 

1  numquam  j8XV. 

1  The  endromi-v  was  not  a  garment,  but  a  warm  wrapper 
of  rough  texture  used  by  richer  men  for  warmth  after  gym- 
nastic exercises  :  cf.  iv.  xix. 

2  cf.  IX.  xxii.  9.     Canusium  (now  Canosa)  was  a  town  in 
Apulia  on  the  high  road  from  Borne  to  Brundusium  :  cf.  Hor. 
Sat.  i.  v.  91.      It  was  celebrated  for  its  wool,  which  Pliny 
(N.H.  viu.  Ixxiii.)  calls  fulvws. 

3  cf.  I.  liii.   5.     The   bardocucullus   was   a   hooded   cloak 
covering   the    whole    body,    worn    principally   by    common 

484' 


BOOK    XIV.  cxxvi-cxxxi 

CXXVL— A  Warm  Wrapper 

'Tis  a  poor  man's  offering  but  not  a  poor  man's 
wear.  This  wrapper  I  send  you  in  place  of  a  cloak.1 

CXXVII. — A  Brown  Cloak  of  Camisian  Wool 
THIS  cloak  of  Canusian  2  wool,  very  like  in  colour 
to  turbid  mead,  shall  be  your  present.      Rejoice :  it 
will  not  quickly  become  old. 

CXXVIIL—  A  Corvkd  Cloak 

GAUL  clothes  you  in  a  Santonian  cowled  cloak.3 
Formerly  it  was  the  frock  of  long-tailed  monkeys. 

CXXIX. — Red  Cloaks  of  Camisian  Wool 
ROME  is  clad  more  in  brown,  Gaul  in  red,  and  this 
colour  pleases  boys  and  soldiers. 

CXXX. — A  Leather  Surtout* 

ALTHOUGH  you  may  set  out  on  your  journey  when 
the  sky  is  continuously  serene,  let  a  leather  surtout 
nowhere  be  wanting  against  sudden  showers. 

CXXXL—  A  Scarlet  Mantle 

IF  you  favour  the  Blue  or  the  Green,6  why  will 
you  assume  scarlet?  See  that  by  this  lot6  you  do 
not  become  a  deserter. 

people,  and  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  paenula,  as  to 
which  cf.  cxxx.  Hence  the  juxtaposition  here  of  the  two 
names. 

4  The  paenula  was  a  closed  garment,  fitting  closely,  with 
an  opening  for  the  head  and  a  hood.    It  was  an  outer  garment, 
worn  over  the  tunic  in  wet  or  cold  weather,  and  was  made 
of  frieze  or  leather. 

5  Factions  of  the  charioteers  in  the  Circus. 

6  cf.  xiv.  i.  5. 

485 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXXXII.— Pilkum 

Si  possem,  totas  cuperem  misisse  lacernas  : 
nunc  tantum  capiti  muiiera  mitto  tuo. 

CXXXIII. — Lacernae  Baeticae 

NON  est  lana  mihi  mendax  nee  mutor  aheno. 
sic  placeant  Tyriae  :  me  mea  tinxit  ovis. 

CXXXIV. — Fascia  Pectoralis 

FASCIA,  crescentes  dominae  compesce  papillas, 
ut  sit  quod  capiat  nostra  tegatque  mantis. 

CXXXV. — Cenatoria 

NEC  fora  sunt  nobis  nee  sunt  vadimonia  nota : 
hoc  opus  est,  pictis  accubuisse  toris. 

CXXXVL— Laena 

TEMPORE  brumali  non  multum  levia  prosunt : 
calfaciunt  villi  pallia  vestra  mei. 

CXXXVII. — Lacernae  Albae 

AMPHITHEATRALI  nos  commendamus  ab  usu, 
cum  teget  algentes  l  alba  lacerna  togas. 

1  ttgit  fiy.     alhenles  /8. 


1  The  lacerna  was  a  mantle  fastened  with  a  buckle,  and 
not  closed  in  like  the  paenula.  It  often  had  a  hood,  and  was 
ample,  so  that  it  could  be  worn  over  the  toga  (cf.  Juv.  ix.  29) 
or  other  garment.  2  cf.  xn.  Ixiii.  4. 

3  The  fascia,  like  the  mamillare  in  Ixvi.,  was  a  bandage 

486 


BOOK  XIV.  cxxxu-cxxxvn 

CXXXIL— A  Cap 

IF  I  could,  I  should  have  wished  to  have  sent  a 
mantle  complete  :  now  I  send  you  a  present  only  for 
your  head.1 

CXXXIIL— A  Baetic  Mantle 

MY  wool  is  not  deceptive,  nor  am  I  transformed 
in  the  vat.  Let  Tyrian  mantles  please  you  by  such 
means  :  my  own  sheep  dyed  me.2 

CXXXIV.— A  Stomacher 

STOMACHER,  compress  the  swelling  breasts  of  my 
mistress  that  there  may  be  something  for  my  hand 
to  seize  and  cover.3 

CXXXV.— Dinner  Suits 

NOR  courts  are  known  to  us,  nor  are  bail  bonds: 
this  is  our  business — to  recline  on  inlaid  couches. 

CXXXVL— A  Warm  Cloak* 

IN  the  winter  season  smooth  coverings  do  not 
much  avail :  my  wool  makes  warm  your  outer 
garment. 

CXXXVIL— White  Mantles 

WE  recommend  ourselves  by  our  use  in  the  amphi- 
theatre,6 when  a  white  mantle  shall  cover  a  chilly 
toga. 

usually,  meant  to  restrain  development  of  the  bust.     Here  it 
is  meant  to  give  firmness  and  shape. 

*  The  laena  was  in  winter  often  worn  over  the  toga  or 
pallium  :  cf.  xii.  xxxvi.  2. 

5  It  was  customary  to  wear  white  at  public  spectacles  : 
cf.  iv.  ii. 

487 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CXXXVIIL— Mantek 

Xouiuus  villosa  tegant  tibi  lintea  citrum  : 
orbibus  in  nostris  circulus  esse  potest. 

CXXXIX. — Cuculli  Liburnici 

IUNOERE  nescisti  nobis,  o  stulte,  lacernas  : 
indueras  albas,  exue  callainas. 

CXL. —  Udones  Cilicii 

NON  hos  lana  dedit  sed  olentis  barba  mariti : 
Cinyphio  poterit  planta  latere  sinu. 

• 

CXLI.— Synthesis 

DUM  toga  per  quinas  gaudet  requiescere  luces, 
hos  poteris  cultus  sumere  iure  tuo. 

CXLIL— Focale 

Si  recitaturus  dedero  tibi  forte  libellum, 
hoc  focale  tuas  adserat  auriculas. 

1  Made  by  wet,  round-footed   vessels.     M.'s-  tables  were 
common  ones,  and  not  of  citrus. 

2  Calfainas  =  the    colour   of  the  callais,  a   stone    which, 
according  to  Pliny  (N.H.  xxxvii.  56),  s>ipphirum  imitatur, 
candidior,  et   literoso  mari  similis,  i.e.  a  kind  of  sea-green. 
The  hood  and  mantle  should  have  been  of  the  same  hue,  as 
the  green  hood,  wetted  by  rain,  would  be  apt  to  stain  the 
white  mantle. 

8  i.e.   a  he-goat's  :  cf.  Hor.  Od.  i.  xvii.  7,    Olentis  iixores 
mariti. 


BOOK    XIV.  CXXXVIII-CXLII 

CXXXVIIL— A  Tablecloth 

LET  woollen  cloths  cover  your  nobler  citrus  wood  : 
on  my  round  tables  a  circular  mark  a  may  stand. 

CXXXIX. — A  Liburnian  Hood 

You  have  not  known,  O  foolish  fellow,  how  to 
match  your  mantle  with  me :  you  put  it  on  white ; 
take  it  off  now  green.2 

CXL. — Cilician  Socks 

WOOL  did  not  supply  these,  but  the  beard  of  the 
noisome  husband : 3  your  foot  will  be  able  to  take 
refuge  in  a  Cinyphian  4  nest. 

CXLI. — A  Holiday  Garment 

WHILE  the  toga  gladly  rests  for  five  days,  you  may 
assume  this  garb  as  of  right.5 

CXLIL— A  Comforter 

IF,  meaning  to  recite,  I  shall  perhaps  have  sent 
you  a  note  of  invitation,  let  this  comforter  emanci- 
pate your  ears.6 

4  CilicMim  was  a  cloth  made  of  goats'  hair,  and  garments 
or  other  articles  made  of  it  were  called  cilicia  -.  cf.  ( 'ic.   \'<  rr. 
iii.  38  ;  Liv.  xxxviii.  7  ;  even  where,  as  here,  the  hair  ciinie 
from    Africa,    Cinyps   being  the   name  of  a  river  near  the 
Syrtes  :  cf.  vn.  xcv.  13. 

5  The  synthesis  was  worn  at  the  Saturnalia:  cf.  xiv  i.  1. 
It  was  ordinarily  a  dinner  dress  :  cf.  V.  Ixxix.  2. 

(i  From  boredom:  cf.  iv.  xli.  2.  Anxerere  iii  lih<  rini<  m 
was  the  regular  phrase  for  setting  a  slave  free  :  cj.  I.  Iii.  5. 

489 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXLIII. — Tunicae  Patavinae 

VELLERA  consumunt  Patavinae  multa  trilices, 
et  pingues  tunicas  serra  secare  potest. 

CXLIV.— Spongea 

HAEC  tibi  sorte  datur  tergendis  spongea  mensis 
utilis,  expresso  cum  levis  imbre  tumet. 

CXLV. — Paenula  Gausapina 

Is  mihi  candor  inest,  villorum  gratia  tanta, 
ut  me  vel  media  sumere  messe  velis. 

CXLVI— Cervical 

TINGUE  caput  Cosmi  folio,  cervical  olebit : 
perdidit  unguentum  cum  coma,  pluma  tenet. 

CXL VIT. — Cubicularia  Ga  usapina 

STRAGULA  purpureis  lucent  villosa  tapetis. 
quid  prodest,  si  te  congelat  uxor  anus  ? 

CXL  VIII.— Lodices 

NUDO  stragula  ne  toro  paterent, 
iunctae  nos  tibi  venimus  sorores. 

1  The  trilix  was  where  every  weft-thread  was  passed  over 
one  and  then  under  three  of  the  warp-threads,  instead  of 
over   one   and   under   the  next  in  regular  succession,  as  in 
ordinary  weaving.     The  process  is   called  twilling,  and  the 
fabric  would  be  triple-twilled.    Verg.  speaks  of  a  breastplate 
auro  trilix  :  Aen.  iii.  467  ;  i.e.  chain-mail. 

2  Frieze  garments  were  ordinarily  worn  in  winter :  cf.  vi. 
lix.  2. 

49° 


BOOK    XIV.  CXLIU-CXLVIII 

CXLIII. — Palawan   Tunics 

PADUAN  garments  of  triple  thread  T  use  up  many 
fleeces,  and  only  a  saw  can  sever  the  thick  tunics. 

CXLIV.— A  Sponge 

THIS  sponge  is  given  you  by  lot :  it  is  useful  for 
wiping  tables  when  it  lightly  swells  after  the  water 
has  been  squeezed  out. 

CXLV. — A  Frieze  Surtout 

SUCH  is  my  whiteness,  the  beauty  of  my  wool  is 
such,  that  you  would  choose  to  wear  me  even  in  the 
midst  of  harvest.2 

CXLVL— A  Pillow 

ANOINT  your  head  with  Cosmus'  unguent,  your 
pillow  will  smell  of  it :  when  your  hair  has  lost  the 
fragrance  the  feathers  retain  it. 

CXLVIL— Frieze  Coverlets  3 

YOUR  coverlet  of  wool  is  bright  with  purple  bro- 
cade. What  is  the  use  of  it  if  an  aged  wife  freeze 
you? 

CXLVIIL— BUmkets 

THAT  the  sacking  on  your  bare  bed  might  not 
show,  we  sisters,  knit  together,  have  come  to  you.4 

:!  Gausapum  was  woollen  cloth  having,  like  frieze,  a  thick 
nap  on  one  side  only,  as  distinguished  from  amphimallum, 
which  had  a  nap  on  both.  It  was  introduced  into  Rome  in 
the  time  of  the  Elder  Pliny's  father:  Plin.  N.H.  vm.  Ixxiii. 

4  The  lodix  was  a  small  shaggy  blanket.  Sometimes  two 
were  sewed  together  to  form  a  coverlet.  The  Emperor 
Augustus  used  it  as  a  wrap  for  warmth  in  the  open  air  : 
Suet.  Aug.  Ixxxiii.  Lodices  came  from  Verona  :  cf.  Ep.  clii. 

491 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CXLIX. — Amictorium 

MAMMOSAS  metuo  ;  tenerae  me  trade  puellae, 
ut  possint  niveo  pectore  lina  frui. 

CL. — Cubicularia  Polymita 

HAEC  tibi  Memphitis  tellus  dat  munera  :  victa  est 
pectine  Niliaco  iam  Babylonos  acus. 

CLI. — Zona 

LONGA  satis  nunc  sum  ;  dulci  sed  pondere  venter 
si  tumeat,  fiam  tune  tibi  zona  brevis. 

CLI1. — Gausapum  Quadratum 

LODICES  mittet  docti  tibi  terra  Catulli : 
nos  Helicaonia  de  regione  sumus. 

CLIII.  — Semicinctium 

DET  tunicam  locuples  :  ego  te  praecingere  possum, 
essem  si  locuples,  munus  utrumque  darem. 

CLIV. — Lanae  Amethystinae 

EBRIA  Sidoniae  cum  sim  de  sanguine  conchae, 
11011  video  quare*  sobria  lana  vocer. 

1  Damask  is  a  variety  of  twill  (cf.  cxliii. ),  and  depends 
upon  the  number  of  warp  threads  (generally  four)  intersected 
by  the  weft.  2  A  weaver's  reed. 

3  Babylon  was  celebrated  for  embroidery  in  colour  ;  the 
art  of  many-threaded  work  (polymita)  came  from  Alexandria : 
cf.  Plin.  N.H.  viii.  74. 

49  2 


BOOK    XIV.  CXLIX-CLIV 

CXLIX.— A   Tucker 

I  SHRINK  from  big-breasted  women  :  hand  me  over 
to  some  young  girl,  that  my  linen  may  enjoy  a  bosom 
of  snow. 

CL. — Damask l  Coverlets 

THIS  present  the  land  of  Memphis  makes  you  : 
now  has  the  needle  of  Babylon  been  surpassed  by 
the  sley  2  of  the  5file.3 

CLI. — A   Female  Girdle 

LONG  enough  am  I  now ;  but  if  your  shape  should 
swell  under  its  grateful  burden,  then  shall  I  become 
to  you  a  narrow  girdle. 

CLII. — A  Square  Woollen  Rug 

BLANKETS  the  country  of  elegant  Catullus  will  send 
you  :  we  are  from  the  region  of  Helicaon.4 

CLIIL— An  Apron 

LET  a  rich  man  give  a  tunic:  I  can  gird  you  in 
front.  Were  I  rich,  I  would  give  both  gifts. 

CLIV '.—Amethyst-dyed  Wool 

DRUNKEN  as  I  am  with  the  blood  of  Sidon's  shell- 
fish, I  do  not  see  why  I  am  called  sober  wool.5 

4  Paduan  :  cf.  X.  xciii.  1. 

5  "Amethyst"    etymologically    means    "  unintoxicated," 
either,  as  Pliny  says  (N.H.  xxxvii.  40),  because  it  did  not 
approximate  to  the  colour  of  wine,  or  because  its  possession 
was  supposed  to  be  an  antidote  against  inebriety.    There  are 
similar  Greek  epigrams  in  Pal.  Anth.  ix.  748  and  752. 

493 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 


CLV. — Lanae  Albae 

VELLERIBUS  primis  Apulia,  Parma  secundis 
nobilis  :  Altinum  tertia  laudat  ovis. 

CLVI. — Lanae   Tyriae 

Nos  Lacedaemoniae  pastor  donavit  amicae  : 
deterior  Ledae  purpura  matris  erat. 

CLVII. — Lanae  Pollentinae 

NON  tantum  pullo  lugentes  vellere  lanas, 
sed  solet  et  calices  haec  dare  terra  suos. 

CLVIIL— Idem 

LANA  quidem  tristis  sed  tonsis  apta  ministris, 
quales  non  primo  de  grege  mensa  citat. 

CLIX. — Tomentum  Leuconicum 

OPPRESSAE  nimium  vicina  est  fascia  plumae  ? 
vellera  Leuconicis  accipe  rasa  sagis. 

CLX. — Tomentum  Circense 

TOMENTUM  concisa  palus  Circense  vocatur. 
haec  pro  Leuconico  stramina  pauper  emit. 

1  c/.  Plin.  N.H.  viii.  73. 

3  A  municipium  in  Venetia  on  the  road  between  Patavium 
(Padua)  and*Aquileia  (now  Altino)  :  cf.  iv.  xxv.  1. 

8  Paris  gave  to  Helen. 

*  Laconian  purple  was  the  finest  produced  in  Europe,  that 
of  Tyre  the  finest  in  Asia  :  Plin.  N.  H.  ix.  60.  The  latter 
was  superior  to  the  former. 

6  A  town  in  Liguria,  now  Polenza.  It  was  famed  for  its 
wool,  which  was  black  :  Plin.  N.H.  viii.  73. 

494 


BOOK    XIV.  CI.V-CLX 

CLV.— White  Wool 

APULIA  is  renowned  for  the  finest  wool,1  Parma  for 
second  quality ;  its  sheep,  third  in  rank,  commend 
Altinum.2 

CLVL—Tyrian  Wools 

Us  the  shepherd  gave  to  his  Lacedaemonian  mis- 
tress:3 of  less  worth  was  the  purple  of  her  mother 
Leda.4 

CLVIL—  Wool  from  Pollentia* 

THIS  land  is  wont  to  supply  not  only  wool  that 
mourns  with  its  black  fleece :  it  supplies  also  its 
native  chalices. 

CLVIIL— The  Same 

MY  wool  is  indeed  sad  in  hue,  but  'tis  fit  for  close- 
dipt  attendants,6  such  as — but  not  from  the  first 
rank  of  slaves — the  table  summons. 

CLIX. — Leuconian  .Bed-stuffing 

Is  the  bed-girth  7  too  near  the  feather  pillow  you 
crush  down  ?  Accept  fleeces  shorn  for  Leuconian  s 
cloaks. 

CLX. — Circensian  Bed-stuffing 

MARSH-REED  chopped  up  is  called  Circensian  '•' 
stuffing.  This  litter  the  poor  man  buys  in  lieu  of 
Leuconian. 

6  The  smarter  attendants  often  had  their  hair  long  :  cf. 
n.  Ivii.  5  ;  in.  Iviii.  31. 

7  c/.  v.  Ixii.  6. 

8  Leucanicum  was  a  wool  much  used  as  a  stuffing :  cf.  xi. 
xxi.  8  and  Ivi.  9.     It   came  from  the  Leucones,  a  Gaulish 
people. 

9  So  called  because  it  was  used  in  the  circus  on  seats  by 
the  common  people  :  cf.  Sen.  De  Vit.  Beat.  xxv.  2. 

.495 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CLXL— Pluma 

LASSUS'  Amyclaea  poteris  requiescere  pluma, 
interior  cycni  quam  tibi  lana  dedit. 

CLXIL— Faenum 

FRAUDATA  tumeat  fragilis  tibi  culcita  mula. 
non  venit  ad  duros  pallida  cura  toros. 

CLXIII. — Tintinabulum 

REDDE  pilam  :  sonat  aes  thermarum.     ludere  pergis  ? 
Virgine  vis  sola  lotus  abire  domum. 

CLXIV.—  Discus 

SPI.ENDIDA  cum  volitant  Spartani  pondera  disci, 
este  procul,  pueri  :  sit  semel  ille  nocens. 

CLXV.— Cithara 

REDDIDIT  Eurydicen  vati :  sed  perdidit  ipse, 
dum  sibi  non  credit  nee  patienter  amat. 

CLXVL— Mem 

• 

DE  Pompeiano  saepe  est  eiecta  theatre 
quae  duxit  silvas  detinuitque  feras. 

1  A  city  of  Laconia.  The  feathers  are  called  Amyclaean 
because  Jupiter  appeared  to  Spartan  Leda  in  the  shape  of  a 
swan. 

cf.  Hor.  Od.  m.  i.  21  for  a  similar  idea. 

496 


BOOK    XIV.  CLXI-CLXVI 

CLXL— Feathers 

TIRED  you  may  rest  on  feathers  of  Amyclae l 
which  the  swan's  inner  down  lias  given  you. 

CLXIL— Hay 

LET  your  rustling  mattress  swell  with  thefts  from 
your  mule :  pale  Care  comes  not  to  hard  couches.2 

CLXIIL— A  Bell 

GIVE  up  the  ball :  the  bell  of  the  warm  baths  is 
sounding.  Do  you  go  on  playing  ?  You  want  to  go 
home  after  a  bath  in  the  Virgin  water  only.3 

CLXIV.—  A  Quoit 

WHILE  the  burnished  weight  of  the  Spartan  quoit 
is  flying,  keep  far  off,  ye  boys :  let  that  quoit  be 
guilty  only  once.4 

CLXV.— A  Cithern 

IT  restored  Eurydice  to  her  bard ;  but  he  'him- 
self lost  her,  trusting  not  himself,  nor  loving  with 
patience. 

CLXVL  —  The  Same 

OFTEN  has  that  been  driven5  from  Pompey's 
theatre,  which  drew  after  it  woods  and  stayed  wild 
beasts.6 

3  The  hot  baths  will  be  full,  or  closed,  arid  he  will  have 
to  content  himself  with  a  cold  bath  from  the  aqua  Virgo  : 
cf.  v.  xx.  9.  *  cf.  clxxiii.  post, 

3  i.e.  hissed  off  by  the  audience. 

6  i.e.  when  played  by  Orpheus  :  cf.  Sped.  xxi. 

497 

VOL.   II.  K    K 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF   MARTIAL 

CLXV1L— Plectrum 

FERVIDA  ne  trito  tibi  pollice  pusula  surgat, 
exornent  docilem  Candida  plectra  lyram.1 

CLXVIIL— Trocktu 

INDUCENDA  rota  est :  das  nobis  utile  munus  : 
iste  trochus  pueris  at  mihi  canthus  erit. 

CLXIX.— Idem 

GARRULUS  in  laxo  cur  anulus  orbe  vagatur  ? 
cedat  ut  argutis  obvia  turba  trochis. 

CLXX. — Signum  Victoriae  Aureum 

HAEC  illi  sine  sorte  datur  cui  nomina  Rhenus 
vera  dedit.     deciens  adde  Falerna,  puer. 

CLXXI. — Bpoirrou  TraiSiov  Fictile 

GLORIA  tarn  parvi  non  est  obscura  sigilli : 
istius  pueri  Brutus  arnator  erat. 
1  garrula  &y. 

1  An  instrument  for  striking  the  strings. 

2  Rings  were  often  strung  round  the  orbit  of  a  boy's  hoop  : 
see  a  picture  taken   from  a  sepulchral    bas-relief  at  Tivoli 
reproduced  in  Rich's  Diet.  Ant.   s.v.  "Anulus."     How  the 
hoop  was  able  to  run  is  very  obscure.     Perhaps  loose  rings 
were    supported   in   position     by    the    clavis,  or   hook    for 
trundling  the  hoop.     Or  perhaps  the  rings  were  attached  to 
the  inner  circumference. 

498 


BOOK    XIV.  CLXVII-CLXXI 

CLXVIL— A  Quill  for  Playing  the  Lyre 

THAT  an  angry  blister  may  not  arise  on  your 
chafed  thumb,  let  an  ivory  quill l  embellish  your 
responsive  lyre. 

CLXVIIL— A  Hoop 

THE  wheel  must  be  fitted  with  a  tyre :  you  give 
me  a  useful  present ;  this  to  boys  will  be  a  hoop, 
but  to  me  a  tyre. 

CLXIX.— The  Same 

WHY  do  noisy  rings  wander  round  the  wide  orbit? 
That  the  crowd  that  meets  them  may  give  way  to 
tinkling  hoops.2 

CLXX.— A   Golden  Statue  of  Victory  3 

SHE  is  given  without  a  drawn  lot  to  him  to  whom 
Rhine  has  given  a  true  victor's  name.  Ten  times4 
pour  Falernian,  boy. 

CLXXL—  A   Clay  Image  of  "  Brutus    Boy" 

THE  renown  of  so  small  a  statue  5  is  not  unknown. 
Of  this  boy  was  Brutus  the  lover. 

3  This,   and   the  following,   describe  sigilla   (statuettes), 
which  were  frequently  given  at  the  Saturnalia,  i.e.  on  the 
last  two  days,  which  were  called  Sigillaria  :  cf.  Aus.  De  Fer. 
Horn.  v.  32  (Festa  sigillorum  nomine  dicta  col-tint). 

4  To  represent  the  letters  of  Germanicus  (Doinitian) :  cf. 
ix.  xciii.  7,  8. 

5  cf.  n.  Ixxvii.  4  ;  ix.  1.    The  statuette  was  by  Strongylion, 
a  Greek  sculptor  of  the  fifth  century  u.c  :  Plin.  jV.7/.  xxxiv. 
19(21). 

499 
K    K    2 


THE  EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CLXXII. — Suuroctonos  Corinthius 

AD  te  reptanti,  puer  insidiose,  lacertae 
parce  ;  cupit  digitis  ilia  perire  tuis. 

CLXXIII. — Hyacinthus  in  Tabula  Pictus 

FLECTIT  ab  inviso  morientia  lumina  disco 
Oebalius,  Phoebi  culpa  dolorque,  puer. 

CLXXIV. — Hermaphroditus  Marmoreus 

MASCULUS  intravit  fontis  :  emersit  utrumque  : 
pars  est  una  patris,  cetera  matris  habet. 

CLXXV.—  Danae  Picta 

CUR  a  te  pretium  Danae,  regnator  Olympi, 
accepit,  gratis  si  tibi  Leda  dedit  ? 

CLXXVI. — Persona  Germana 

SUM  figuli  lusus  russi  persona  Batavi. 
quae  tu  derides,  haec  timet  ora  puer. 

CLXXVIL— Hercules  Corinthius 

EI.IDIT  geminos  infans  nee  respicit  anguis. 
iam  poterat  teneras  hydra  timere  manus. 

1  On  a  replica  of  a  work  of  Praxiteles  representing  the 
young   Apollo  with   an  arrow    watching  a   lizard.     It  was 
called  ~S,ai'p3KTovos  :  cf.  Plin.  N.H.  xxxiv.  19  (10). 

2  Apollo,  when  playing  at  quoits  with  Hyacinthus,  killed 
him    by   accident.      From    his   blood   sprang  the    hyacinth 
inscribed  with  the  Greek  alai  (alas) :  cf.  Milton's  "  Sanguine 
flower  inscribed  with  woe."     The  picture  alluded  to  may  be 
a  copy  of  the  one  by  Antidotus  of  the  fourth  century  B.C., 
the  original  of  which  was  transported  to  Rome  by  Augustus 
on  the  capture  of  Alexandria  :  Plin.  N. H.  xxxv.  40  (28). 

500 


BOOK    XIV.  CLXXII-CLXXVII 

CLXXII. — The  Lizard-slayer  in  Corinthian  Bronze 
SPARE  the  lizard,  treacherous  boy,  as  it  creeps  up 
to  you  ;  it  longs  to  perish  by  your  hands.1 

CLXXIII. — A  Picture  of  Hyacinthus 
FROM   the  hated  quoit  he   turns  his  dying  eyes, 
the    Oebalian    boy,    the    reproach    and    sorrow    of 
Phoebus.2 

CLXXIV. — A  Marble  Hermaphrodites 
MALE,  he  entered  the  fount ; 3  he  came  forth  both 
male  and  female :  one  part  of  him  is  his  sire's,  all 
else  has  he  of  his  mother. 

CLXXV.— A  Picture  oj  Danae 
WHY   of    you,    Ruler   of    Olympus,    did    Danae 4 
receive  her  price,  if   Leda  unbought  was   kind  to 
you? 

CLXXVL— A  German  Mask 

I   AM   a   freak  of  the  potter,  the  mask  of  a  red- 
haired  Batavian.    This  face  you  deride  a  boy  dreads.5 

CLXXVII. — Hercules  in  Corinthian  Bronze 
THE  infant  throttles6  the  two  serpents,  nor. does 
he  glance  on  them.     Already  might  the  hydra7  fear 
youthful  hands. 

8  Salmacis :  cf.  vi.  Ixviii   9 ;  and  see  Ovid,  Mel.  iv.  285. 
4  Possibly  a  copy  of  Arlemon's  picture  of   Danae  miran- 
tibus  earn  praedonibuK  :  cf.  PHn.  N.H.  xxxv.  40(32). 
6  To  him  it  is  a  bogey. 

6  The  Goddess   Hera,  jealous  of  Alcuiena  the  mother  of 
Hercules,  sent  two  serpents  to  kill  him  in  his  cradle :  cf. 

'Verg.  A  en.  viii.  289. 

7  The   Lernaean  hydra,  or   water-snake,  .was  one  of  the 
monsters  slain  by  Hercules  :  cf.  Sped,  xxvii.  5  ;  ix.  ci.  9. 

5°' 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CLXXVIIL— Hercules  FictiUs 

SUM  fragilis :  sed  tu,  moneo,  ne  sperne  sigillum  : 
non  pudet  Alciden  nomen  habere  meum. 

CLXXIX. — Minerva  Argentea 

Die  mihi,  virgo  ferox,  cum  sit  tibi  cassis  et  hasta, 
quare  non  habeas  aegida.     "Caesar  habet." 

CLXXX.— Europe  Picta 

MUTAHI  melius  tauro,  pater  optime  divum, 
tune  poteras,  lo  cum  tibi  vacca  fuit. 

CLXXXI. — Leandros  Marmoreus 

CLAMABAT  tumidis  audax  Leandros  in  undis 
"  Mergite  me,  fluctus,  cum  rediturus  ero." 

CLXXXIL—  8igillum  Gibberi  Fictile 

EBRLUS  haec  fecit  terris,  puto,  monstra  Prometheus 
Saturnalicio  lusit  et  ipse  luto. 


1  The  statuette  was  called   Hercules   Fictilis  :    cf.   Plin. 
N.H.  xxxv.  45.     It  was  by  Turianus  of  Fregellae  in  the  time 
of  Tarquinius  Prisons. 

2  See  the  description  of  Domitian's  breastplate,  vn.  i.  and  ii. 
s  The  original  was  in  the   Porticus  Pompeii,  painted  by 

Antiphilus,  the  rival  of  Apelles  :  Plin.  N.H.  xxxv.  37. 

4  As   a  bull  J.  would  have  escaped  the  hundred  eyes  of 
Argus  set  to  watch  lo  :  cf.  Ixxxv.  2. 

502 


BOOK    XIV.  cLxxvm-cLxxxn 

CLXXVIIL—  A   Hercules  in  Clay 

FRAGILE  am  I,  but  do  not  you,  I  charge  you, 
despise  my  small  statue  :  it  shames  not  Alcides  to 
bear  my  name.1 

CLXXIX. — A  Minerva  in  Silver 

TELL,  me,  gallant  maid,  whereas  thou  hast  thy 
helm  and  thy  spear,  why  hast  thou  not  thine  aegis  ? 
"  Caesar  has  it."  2 

CLXXX.— A  Picture  of  Europa  3 

BETTER,  most  excellent  Father  of  the  Gods,  couldst 
thou  have  been  changed  into  a  bull  when  lo  was  to 
thee  a  heifer.4 

CLXXXL— A  Marble  Leander 

DARING  Leander  cried  amid  the  swelling  waters : 
"  Drown  me,  ye  waves,  when  I  am  .turning  home."  5 

CLXXXII. — A  Clay  Statuette  of  a  Hunchback 

'TWAS  a  drunken  Prometheus,6  I  fancy,  made  for 
the  earth  this  monster ;  he  himself,  too,  played  with 
Saturnalian  clay.7 

5  Sped.  xxv.  B  is  on  the  same  subject. 

6  i.e.  the  potter :  cf.  Juv.  iv.  133. 

7  The  original  Prometheus  (>p»e)  made  men  out  of  clay 
(cf.  x.    xxxix.    4),  and  had  a  taste   for  making  grotesque 
figures.     Statuettes  of  dwarfs  and  monstrosities  were  doubt- 
less often  made,  and  given  as  presents  at  the  Saturnalia,  the 
taste  for  slaves  of   this  type  being  common :    rf.  the  Poly- 
phemus and  Scylla  of  vn.  xxxviii. 

503 


THE    EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CLXXXIII. — Homeri  Batrachomachia 

PERLEGE  Maeonio  cantatas  carmine  ranas 
et  frontem  nugis  solvere  disce  meis. 


CLXXXIV. — Homerus  in  Pugillarihus  Membranis 

ILIAS  et  Priami  regnis  inimicus  Ulixes 
multiplici  pariter  condita  pelle  latent. 

CLXXXV.— Vergili  Culix 

ACCIPE  facundi  Culicem,  studiose,  Maronis, 
ne  nucibus  positis  "  Arma  virumque  "  legas. 


CLXXXVI. —  Fergilius  in  Membranis 

QUAM  brevis  inmensum  cepit  membrana  Maronem ! 
ipsius  vultus  prima  tabella  gerit. 

CLXXXVIL— MevavSpov  Oafs 

HAC  primum  iuvenum  lascivos  lusit  amores  ; 
nee  Glycera  pueri,  Thais  arnica  fuit. 

CLXXXVIII. — Cicero  in  Membranis 

Si  comes  ista  tibi  fuerit  membrana,  putato 
carpere  te  longas  cum  Cicerone  vias. 

1  "If  Homer  can  unbend,  I  can  be  excused." 

2  Culex,  an  early  poem  of  Vergil's. 

8  With  which  they  gambled  at  the  Saturnalia  :  cf.  xiv. 
i.  12. 

5°4 


BOOK    XIV.  CLXXXIII-CLXXXVIII 

CLXXXIII. — Homers  "Battle  of  Frogs  and  Mice" 
READ   through    the    story  of    the    frogs   sung   in 
Homer's    lay,  and    learn   to    smooth  your  brow   by 
means  of  my  trifles.1 

CLXXXIV. — Homer  in  Parchment  Handybooks 

THE  Iliad  and  the  tale  of  Ulysses,  foe  to  Priam's 
realm,  both  lie  stored  in  many-folded  skins. 

CLXXXV.— Virgil s  Gnat 

RECEIVE,  studious  reader,  the  Gnat2  of  eloquent 
Maro ;  you  need  not  then  lay  aside  your  nuts 3  to 
read  "Arms  and  the  Man." 

CLXXXVL— Virgil  in  Parchment 

How  short  a  parchment4  has  comprised  the  mighty 
Maro !  The  features  of  the  man  himself  the  first 
leaf  bears. 

CLXXXVIL— The  Thais  of  Menander 

WITH  this  first  he  lightly  touched  youth's  wanton 
love,  and  Glycera  was  not  the  mistress  of  his  boy- 
hood :  'twas  Thais.5 

CLXXXVIII— Cicero  in  Parchment 

IF  this  parchment  shall  be  your  travelling  com- 
panion, imagine  you  are  taking  a  long  journey  with 
Cicero. 

4  Parchment  being  very  expensive,  books  were  often  copied 
in  small  characters  :  cf.  cxc. 

6  From  this  play  came  the  line  quoted  by  St.  Paul, 
<f>0fipovffii>  %0ri  xpJlffO'  fy*'^01'  fa/col. 

505 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

CLXXXYK.—Monobyblos  Properti 

CYNTHIA,  facundi  carmen  iuvenale~Properti? 
accepit  famam  ;  non  minus  ipsa  dedit. 

CXC.  —  Titus  Livius  in  Membranis 

PELUBUS  exiguis  artatur  Livius  ingens, 
quem  mea  non  totum  bybliotheca  capit. 

CXCI.—  Sallustius 

Hie  evit,  ut  perhibent  doctorum  corda  virorum, 
primus  Romana  Crispus  in  historia. 

CXCII. — Ovidi  Metamorphosis  in  Membranis 

HA  EC  tibi  multiplici  quae  structa  est  massa  tabella, 
carmina  Nasonis  quinque  decemque  gerit. 

CXCIII.— Tibullus 

USSIT  amatorem  Nemesis  lasciva  Tibullum, 
in  tola  iuvit  quem  nihil  esse  domo. 

CXCIV.— Lucanus 

SUNT  quidam  qui  me  dicant  non  esse  poetam  : 
sed  qui  me  vendit  bybliopola  putat. 

CXCV.— Catullus 

TANTUM  magna  suo  debet  Vei*ona  Catullo, 
quantum  parva  suo  Mantua  Vergilio. 

1  The  first  book  of  Propertius  was  published  by  him  at  the 
age  of  twenty.  It  was  called  Cynthia,  and  in  some  MSS.  is 
headed  "-Monobiblos."  But  whether  M.  alludes  to  this  is 
uncertain. 

506 


BOOK    XIV.  CLXXXIX-CXCV 

CLXXXIX.  —  Propertiiis  in  a  Single  Volume 
CYNTHIA,1  the  theme  of  eloquent  Propertius'  youth- 
ful song,  won  from  him  fame  ;  no  less  she  herself 
bestowed. 

CXC.  —  Titus  Livius  in  Parchment 

NARROWED  into   scanty  skins   is   bulky   Livy,   the 
whole  of  whom  my  library  does  not  contain.2 

CXCL—  Sattust 

HERE  will  be  Crispus,  first  of   Roman  historians, 
as  the  judgment  of  learned  men  declares. 

CXCII.  —  Ovid's  "Metamorphoses"  in  Parchment 

THIS  bulk,  that  has  been  formed  of  many  a  leaf, 
contains  the  fifteen  books  of  Naso's  poems. 


CXCIIL—  T 

WANTON  Nemesis  3  fired  her  lover  Tibullus,  whom 
it  pleased  to  be  "of  no  account  in  his  own  house.'' 

CXCIV.—  Lucan 

SOME  are  there  that  say  I  am  no  poet  :  but  the 
bookseller  that  sells  me  thinks  I  am. 

CXCV.—  Catullus 

As  much  great  Verona  owes  to  her  Catullus  as 
small  Mantua  owes  to  her  Virgil. 

-  It  is  too  small  to  hold  Livy  in  his  o'rdinary  shape.  L. 
wrote  142  books  of  annals. 

3  It  was  Delia  of  whom  Tib.  (i.  v.  30)  writes  "Aljuvet  in 
tota  me  nihil  esse  domo  "  Nemesis  was  his  second  love. 

507 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CXCVI. — Calvi  de  Aquae  Frigidae   Usu 

HAEC  tibi  quae  fontes  et  aquarum  nomina  dicit 
ipsa  suas  melius  charta  natabit  aquas. 

CXCVIL—  Mulae  Pumilae 

His  tibi  de  mulis  non  est  metuenda  ruina : 
altius  in  terra  paene  sedere  soles. 

CXCVIIL— Catella  Gallicana 

DELICIAS  parvae  si  vis  audire  catellae, 
narranti  brevis  est  pagina  tota  rnihi. 

CXCIX.— Asturco 

Hie  brevis  ad  numeros  rapidum  qui  colligit  unguem, 
venit  ab  auriferis  gentibus  Astur  equus. 

CC. — Canis  Vertragus 

NON  sibi  sed  domino  venatur  vertragus  acer, 
inlaesum  leporem  qui  tibi  dente  feret. 

CCI. — Palaestrita 

NON  amo  quod  vincat,  sed  quod  succumbere  novit 
et  didicit  melius  rr)v  liriKXwoTra.\r)v. 

1  Licinius  Calvus,  an  orator  and  poet  of  the  age  of  Cicero. 
He  is  praised  by  Catullus,  Propertius,  and  Ovid  ;  but  M. 
suggests  that  this  particular  work  is  fit  only  to  be  thrown 
away  :  cf.  i.  v.  2.  2  cf.  M.'s  description  of  Issa  (i.  cix.). 

3  cf.  Non  milgaris  in  cursu  gradus,  aed  mollis  alterno 
crurum  explicatu  gloraeratio :  Plin.  N.H.  viii.  67.  This  trot 
or  amble  was  taught :  ibid. 

508 


BOOK   XIV.  cxcvi-cci 

CXCVI— Calvus  i  Poem  on  the   Use  of  Cold  Water 
THESE  sheets,  that  speak  to  you  of  fountains  and 
of  the  names  of  rivers,  themselves  will  better  swim 
in  the  waters  they  tell  of. 

CXCVIL— Dwarf  Mules 

FROM  these  mules  no  fall  is  to  be  apprehended  : 
you  are  used  to  sit  almost  higher  on  the  ground. 

CXCVIIL— A  Gallic  Lapdog 

If  you  wish  to  hear  the  tricks  of  a  small  lapdog, 
for  the  telling  a  whole  page  of  mine  is  too  short.2 

CXCIX.—  A  Jennet 

THIS  little  horse,  that  picks  up  its  hurrying  hoof 
in  measured  time,3  has  come  from  tribes  rich  in'gold, 
an  Asturian  steed. 

CO.—  A   Greyhound* 

NOT  for  himself,  but  for  his  master,  hunts  the  keen 
greyhound,  who  will  bring  you  a  hare  unwounded  by 
his  tooth. 

CCL— A  Wrestler 

I  DO  not  like  him  because  he  wins,  but  because 
he  knows  how  to  yield,  and  has  learned  the  better 
art  of  recovering  himself.6 

4  The  word  is  by  some  translated  "tumbler,"  a  dog  that 
inveigled  game  by  careless  gambols,  or  by  rolling  himself 
into  a  heap,  and  so  disguising  his  shape.     It  is  alluded  to 
in  Hudibras. 

5  There  is  probably  an  obscene  sense  here  :  cf.  Suet.  Dom. 
22  (assiduitatem  concubitus  velut  exercitationin  genus  clinopalen 
vocabat). 

5°9 


THE   EPIGRAMS    OF    MARTIAL 

CCII. — Simius 

CALLIDUS  emissas  eludere  simius  hastas, 
si  mihi  cauda  foret,  cercopithecus  eram. 

CCIII. — Puella  Gaditana 

TAM  tremulum  crisat,  tarn  blandum  prurit,  ut  ipsum 
masturbatorem  fecerit  Hippolytum. 

CCIV.— Cymbala 

AERA  Celaenaeos  lugentia  Matris  amores 
esuriens  Gallus  vendere  saepe  solet. 

CCV.— Puer 

SIT  nobis  aetate  puer,  non  pumice,  levis, 
propter  quern  placeat  nulla  puella  mihi. 

CCVL— Cestos 

COLLO  necte,  puer,  meros  amores, 
ceston  de  Veneris  sinu  calentem. 


CCVIL— Idem 

SUME  Cytheriaco  medicatum  nectare  ceston  : 
ussit  amatorem  balteus  iste  lovem. 


1  The  cercopithecus  came  from  Aethiopia  :  Plin.  N.H.  viii. 
30.     In  Egypt  it  was  a  sacred  animal :  Juv.  xv.  4. 

2  Who  rejected  the  advances  of  his  stepmother,  Phaedra, 
the  wife  of  his  father  Theseus. 

510 


BOOK   XIV.  CCH-CCVII 

CCII— A  Monkey 

A  MONKEY  cunning  to  avoid  darts  hurled  at  me, 
I  should  be  a  "  long-tailed  ape  " 1  had  I  a  tail. 

CCIII.— A   Girl  from  Gades 

SALTEGGIA  con  si  minuto  tremito,  ed  eccita  con 
tanta  lusinga,  che  Ippolito  2  stesso  si  masturberebbe. 

CCIV.— Cymbals 

THE  brazen  cymbals  that  mourn  for  the  boy  of 
Celaenae,3  the  darling  of  the  Great  Mother,  her 
priest  is  often  wont  to  sell  when  hungry. 

CCV.— A   Young  Slave 

MAY  I  have  a  boy  with  a  cheek  smooth  with  youth, 
not  with  pumice,  for  whose  sake  no  maid  would 
please  me. 

CCVI— A  Cestus 

ROUND  thy  neck  twine,  boy,  love's  very  essence,4 
a  cestus  6  warm  from  the  bosom  of  Venus. 

CCVIL— The  Same 

TAKE  thou  the  cestus  imbued  with  Cytherea's 
nectar :  this  girdle  fired 6  the  lover  Jove. 

3  Attis,  the  love  of  Cybele  :  cf.  11.  Ixxxvi.  4. 

4  A  phrase  from  Catullus  xiii.  9. 
6  cf.  vi.  xiii.  5. 

6  Hera  borrowed  from  Aphrodite  her  cestun  to  inflame  the 
ardour  of  Zeus  :  Horn.  II.  xiv.  214,  312. 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF   MARTIAL 

CCVIII.— Notariiu 

CURRANT  verba  licet,  manus  est  velocior  illis  : 
nondum  lingua  suum,  dextra  peregjt  opus. 

CCIX.— Concha 

LEVIS  ab  aequorea  cortex  Mareotica  concha 
fiat :  inoffensa  curret  harundo  via. 

OCX.— Mono 

NON  mendax  stupor  est  nee  fingitur  arte  dolosa. 
quisquis  plus  iusto  non  sapit,  ille  sapit. 

CCXI. — Caput  Vervecinum 

MOLLIA  Phrixei  secuisti  colla  mariti. 

hoc  meruitj  tunicam  qui  tibi,  saeve,  dedit  ? 

CCXIL— Pumilus 

Sr  solum  spectes  hominis  caput,  Hectora  credas  : 
si  stanteni  videas,  Astyanacta  putes. 

CCXIIL— Parma 

HAEC,  quae  saepe  solet  vinci,  quae  vincere  raro, 
parma  tibi,  scutum  pumilionis  erit. 

1  This   epigram   explains   the   small   price  at  which  M.'s 
poems  could  be  sold  by  Tryphon  :  cf.  xui.  iii.  2.     A  number 
of  slaves  as  shorthand  writers  could  copy  books  cheaply. 

2  Papyrus,  Mareotis  being  a  part  of  Egypt.     Pliny  (N.H. 
xiii.  25)  says  that  papyrus  was  smoothed  by  an  instrument 
or  by  a  shell,  but  that  the  writing  fades. 

3  cf.  vi.  xxxix.  ;  vill.  xiii.  ;  XII.  xciii. 

4  The  ram  with   the  golden  fleece  that  carried  Phryxus 

512 


BOOK    XIV.  ccviii-ccxni 

CCVIII.— A  Shorthand  Writer 

ALBEIT  the  words  speed,  the  hand  is  swifter  than 
they :  not  yet  lias  the  tongue,  the  hand  has  finished 
its  work.1 

CCIX.— A  Sea-shell 

LET  the  rind  of  the  Mareotic  rush 2  be  made 
smooth  by  the  sea-shell :  the  reed-pen  will  run  on 
an  unimpeded  path. 

CCX.—  A  Natural* 

His  dulness  is  not  assumed,  or  pretended  by 
crafty  art.  He  that  has  wits  no  more  than  is  enough 
has  his  wits. 

CCXL—  A  Ram's  Head 

You  have  cut  the  soft  throat  of  the  lord  of  the 
flock,  a  ram  of  Phryxus ; 4  did  he  deserve  this  who 
gave  you,  cruel  man,  your  tunic  ? 

CCXIL— A   Dwarf 

IF   you    regard  the  man's  head  alone  you  would, 
believe  him  Hector;  if  you  saw  him  standing  you 
would  deem  him  Astyanax.5 

CCXIIl.—A  Small  Shield 

THIS,  which  is  wont  oft  to  be  overcome,  rarely  to 
win,6  will  be  to  you  a  small  buckler,  but  a  dwarf's 
great  shield. 

and  Helle  through  the  air,  and  whose  fleece  was  afterwards 
carried  off  by  the  Argonauts  from  Colchis:  cf.  vr.  iii.  6; 
vin.  li.  9.  5  The  young  son  of  Hector  :  cf.  vin.  vi.  16. 

6  Domitian  favoured  the.  ncutarii,  gladiators  who  fought 
with  the  ordinary  large  oblong  shield,  as  against  the  gladia- 
tors called  "Thracians,"  who  wore  a  smaller  shield  of  a  round 
shape  :  cf.  ix.  Ixviii.  8. 

513 

VOL.   II.  L    L 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CCXIV.— Comoedi  Piteri 

NON  erit  in  turba  quisquam  Microu/xevos  ista  : 
sed  poterit  quivis  esse  Ais  e^aTrarwv. 

CCXV.— Fibula 

Die  mihi  simpliciteiv,  comoedis  et  citharoedis, 
fibula,  quid  praestas?     "Carius  ut  futuant." 

CCXVL— Accipiler 

PHAEDO  fuit  volucrum  :  famulus  nunc  aucupis  idem 
deicit  et  captas  non  sibi  maeret  aves. 

CCXVIL— Opsonator 

Die  quotus  et  quanti  cupias  cenare,  nee  unum 
addideris  verbum  :  cena  parata  tibi  est. 

CCXVIIL— Aucepg 

NON  tantum  calamis  sed  cantu  fallitur  ales, 
callida  dum  tacita  crescit  harundo  manu. 

CCXIX.— Cor  Bubulum 

PAUPER  causidicus  nullos  referentia  nummos 
carmina  cum  scribas,  accipe  cor,  quod  habes. 

1  The  two  mentioned  are  comedies  of  Menander.  In  the 
Litter  occurs  the  celebrated  line  $>v  ol  Qtoi  <pi\ovaiv  a.iro8vi]GKti 
vfos.  2  cf.  vu.  Ixxxii.  1,2. 

3  The  removal  of  the  clasp  has  \.o  be  paid  for  :  cf.  Sohitur 
his  magno  comoedi fibula  (Juv.  vi.  73). 

4  Birds  are  caught  not  only  by  a  limed  cane  but  also  by  an 
imitation  of  their  note,  or  by  the  note  of  a  decoy  bird.     As 


BOOK    XIV.  ccxiv-ccxix 

CCXIV. — Boy  Comic  Actors 

IN  all  this  troupe  will  be  no  one  "The  Hated"; 
but  any  one  of  them  can  be  "The  Double  Deceiver."1 

CCXV.— A  Singer's  Clasp 

TELL  me  candidly,  O  clasp,  what  do  you  guarantee 
to  comedians  and  harp-players  ? 2  "  The  greater 
value  of  their  favours."  3 

CCXVL— A  Hawk 

HE  preyed  once  upon  birds ;  the  servant  of  the 
fowler  now,  he  strikes  them  down,  and  is  sad  the 
birds  are  not  taken  for  his  own  behoof. 

CCXVIL— A   Caterer 

SAY  with  how  many  and  at  what  cost  you  want  to 
dine,  and  do  not  add  another  word :  your  dinner  is 
ready  for  you. 

CCXV1IL—  Bird-catching  Rods 
NOT  only  by  canes,  but  by  a  bird's  note  also  is 
the  bird  deceived  while  the  cunning  reed  is  being 
lengthened  by  the  noiseless  hand.4 

CCXIX.-J  Bullock's  Pluck 

SEEING  that  you,  a  poor  lawyer,  write  poems  that 
do  not  bring  you  in  a  penny,  take  from  me  pluck 
like  your  own.5 

to  the  cane,  cf.  -TX.  liv.  3 ;  and,  as  to  the   decoy,  see  the 
engraved  gem  in  Rich's  Diet.  Antiq.  x.v.  "  Arundo." 

8  There  is  a  play  on  two  meanings  of  the  word  cor,  viz. 
"heart"  and  "sense":  cf.  vi.  Ixiv.  18.  '  Pluck  "  is  a 
butcher's  name  for  the  heart,  liver  and  lights  of  an  animal  : 
see  Skeat's  Etym.  Diet.  s.r.  ;  and  also  means  "  courage." 

5'5 
1.  L  2 


THE   EPIGRAMS   OF    MARTIAL 

CCXX.— Cocwt 

NON  satis  est  ars  sola  coco :  servire  palatum 
nolo  :  cocus  doinini  debet  habere  gulam. 

CCXXI. — Craticula  cum  Verubus 

KARA  tibi  curva  craticula  sudet  ofella ; 
spumeus  in  longa  cuspide  fumet  aper. 

s  - 

CCXXIL— Pistor  Dulciarius 

MILLE  tibi  dulces  operum  raanus  ista  figuras 
extruet :  huic  uni  parca  laborat  apis. 

CCXXIIL— Adipata 

SURGITE  :  iam  vendit  pueris  ientacula  pistor 
cristataeque  sonant  undique  lucis  aves. 


INCERTAE  SEDIS  EPIGRAMMA 

FLAVIA  gens,  quantum  tibi  tertius  abstulit  heres  ! 
paene  fuit  tanti  non  habuisse  duos. 

Hoc  epigramma  extat  apud  scholiastam  in  luvenalem  S. 
iv.  38.  Vulgo  in  fine  libri  spectacnlorum  legitur,  libro  xi. 
adsignatur  a  Friedl. 


516 


BOOK    XIV.  ccxx-ccxxm 

CCXX.— A  Cook 

INSUFFICIENT  is  ins  art  alone  for  a  cook  :  I  would 
not  have  his  palate  that  of  a  slave ;  a  cook  ought 
to  possess  the  taste  of  his  master. 

CCXXI. — A   Gridiron  with  Spits 

LET  your  grated  gridiron  be  unctuous  with  the 
rounded  cutlet;  on  the  long  pointed  spit  let  a 
foaming  boar  smoke. 

CCXXII— The  Confectioner 

A  THOUSAND  toothsome  shapes  of  handiwork  that 
hand  will  construct  for  you ;  for  him  alone  labours 
the  frugal  bee. 

CCXX1IL—  Rich  Dainties 

GET  up  :  already  the  baker  is  selling  to  boys  their 
breakfast,  and  the  crested  fowls  of  dawn  are  crowing 
on  all  sides. 


AN  EPIGRAM  OF  UNCERTAIN  POSITION 

O  FLAVIAN  family,  of  how  much  glory  has  thy  third 
heir  robbed  thee !  Well  nigh  had  it  stood  us  in 
stead  not  to  have  possessed  the  twain  ! l 

1  These  lines  (which  are  amplified  by  Ausonius,  Cue*,  xii. ) 
mean  that  Domitian  was  so  evil  that  it  hod  been  better 
for  Rome  not  to  have  had  Flavian  Emperors  at  all,  even  good 
ones  like  Vespasian  and  Titus. 


5'7 


EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED   TO 
MARTIAL 


EPIGRAMMATA    QUAEDAM 
M.    VAL.    MARTIALI    AFFICTA 

I. — De  Rustications 

RURE  morans  quid  agam,  respondeo  pauca,  rogatus. 
luce  deos  oro  ;  famulos,  post  arva  revise, 
partibus  atque  meis  iustos  indico  labores. 
inde  lego,  Phoebumque  cio,  Musamque  lacesso. 
hinc  oleo  corpusque  frico  mollique  palaestra  5 

stringo  libens,  animo  gaudens,  ac  foenore  liber, 
prandeo,  poto,  cano,  ludo,  lavo,  coeno,  quiesco. 
dum  parvus  lychnus  modicum  consumat  olivi, 
haec  dat  nocturnis  nox  lucubrata  Camoenis. 

II. — In  Varum 

AD  coenam  nuper  Varus  me  forte  vocavit : 

ornatus  dives,  parvula  coena  fuit. 
auro,  non  dapibus,  oneratur  mensa :  ministri 

apponunt  oculis  plurima,  pauca  gulae. 
tune  ego,  "  Non  oculos,  sed  ventrem,  pascere  veni :   5 

aut  appone  dapes,  Vare,  vel  aufer  opes." 


1  These  are  partly  gathered  from  MSS.  and  old  glossaries, 
partly  embodied  in  his  works  by  Hadrianus  Junius  and 
others. 

Haclr.  Jun.  (Adrien  de  Jonghe,  1512-1575)  was  a  Dutch 
physician  and  savant,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  the 

520 


EPIGRAMS    ASCRIBED    TO 
MARTIAL  i 

I.  —  Life  in  the  Country 

As  you  ask  me  what  I  do  while  staying  in  the 
country  I  reply  shortly.  At  daybreak  I  pray  to  the 
gods  ;  I  visit  my  servants  and  afterwards  my  fields, 
and  to  my  staff'  I  assign  their  proper  tasks.  Then 
I  read  and  call  on  Phoebus,  and  challenge  the 
Muses.  After  this  I  rub  my  body  with  oil,  and  with 
mild  gymnastics  gladly  brace  myself,  happy  in  my 
mind  and  free  from  moneylenders.  I  lunch,  drink, 
sing,  play,  bathe,  dine,  go  to  bed.  Provided  my 
small  lamp  consume  but  little  oil,  such  lucubrations 
as  these  night  furnishes  to  the  nocturnal  Muses. 


II.  —  Against 

VARUS  happened  to  invite  me  lately  to  dinner  : 
his  appointments  were  rich,  his  dinner  was  scanty. 
The  table  is  loaded  with  gold  plate,  not  with  meats  ; 
the  attendants  set  before  us  much  to  please  the  eye, 
little  to  tickle  the  palate.  Then  I  said  :  "  I  did  not 
come  to  stuff  my  eyes,  but  my  stomach  ;  either 
provide  your  provender,  Varus,  or  remove  your 
property." 

age.  Among  his  works  were  commentaries  on  Plautus, 
Horace,  Petronius,  Seneca,  and  Martial  ;  and  a  Philippid,  or 
Epithalamium  on  the  marriage  of  Philip  ami  Mary.  He 
was  the  Pvector  of  the  College  of  Harlem,  and  his  library 
was  pillaged  by  the  Spaniards. 


EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED    TO    MARTIAL 

III. — In  Ponticum 

PONTICE,  per  reges  discurris,  et  oninia  lustras  : 

magna  quidem  sequeris,  Pontice  :  magnus  homo  es. 
Pontice,  si  qua  facis,  sine  teste  facis,  sine  turba ; 

non  adhibes  multos,  Pontice  :  cautus  homo  es. 
Pontice,  te  celebrem  forma  natura  creavit :  5 

dignus  eras  Helena,  Pontice  :  pulcher  homo  es. 
Pontice,  voce  tua  posses  adamanta  movere  : 

vox  tua  dulce  sonat,  Pontice  :  dulcis  homo  es. 
Pontice,  sic  alios,  sicr  te  quoque  decipit  error : 

vis  dicam  verum,  Pontice  ?     Nullus  homo  es.       10 

IV.— De  Vetula 

TACTA  places,  audita  places :  si  non  videare, 
tota  places  :  neutro,  si  videare,  places. 

V. — De  Milone 
MILO  domi  non  est :  peregre  Milone  profecto 

arva  vacant :  uxor  non  minus  inde  parit. 
cur  sit  ager  sterilis,  cur  uxor  fertilis,  edam  : 

quo  fodiatur  ager  non  habet,  uxor  habet. 

VI. — De  Histrionis  Poena 

ANTE  lovis  statuam  crepuit  satur  histrio  :  poenam 
luppiter  indixit,  vivere  de  proprio. 


522 


III-VI 

III. — Against  Ponticus 

PONTICUS,  you  run  about  among  great  lords,  and 
have  an  eye  for  everything  going  ;  you  pursue,  in- 
deed, great  tilings,  Ponticus ;  you  are  a  great  man. 
Ponticus,  if  you  do  anything,  you  do  it  without  a 
witness,  without  a  crowd  round  you  ;  you  don't  make 
confidants  of  many,  Ponticus ;  you  are  a  cautious 
man.  Ponticus,  nature  has  fashioned  you  of  remark- 
able beauty ;  you  would  have  been  worthy  of  Helen, 
Ponticus  ;  you  are  a  handsome  man.  Ponticus,  with 
that  voice  of  yours  you  might  stir  adamant ;  your 
voice  is  sweet-toned,  Ponticus ;  you  are  a  sweet  man. 
Ponticus,  this  error  deceives  you  too  as  it  does  other 
men.  Would  you  have  me  tell  you  the  truth, 
Ponticus  ?  You  are  not  a  man  at  all. 

IV. — On  an   Old   Woman 

To  the  touch  you  are  pleasing,  listened  to  you 
are  pleasing  ;  if  you  are  not  seen,  you  are  wholly 
pleasing ;  in  neither  way  if  you  are  seen  are  you 
pleasing. 

V.— On  Milo 

Mn.o  is  not  at  home ;  Milo  has  gone  abroad,  and 
his  fields  are  neglected;  yet  his  wife  is  no  less 
fruitful  since.  Why  his  land  is  sterile,  why  his  wife 
is  fertile,  I  will  declare :  his  land  has  no  cultivator, 
his  wife  has. 

VI. — On  an  Actor  s  Punishment 

A  FULL-FED  actor  broke  wind  before  Jove's  statue. 
Jupiter  declared  the  penalty,  to  live  at  his  own 
expense.1 

1  xn.  Ixxvii.  is  an  epigram  on  the  same  subject. 

523 


EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED   TO    MARTIAL 

VII.— In  Efrontem 

Os  atavi,  patris  nasum,  duo  lumina  patris, 

et  matris  gestus  dicis  habere  tuae. 
cum  referas  priscos,  nullamque  in  corpora  partem 

mentiris  ;  frontem,  die  mihi,  cuius  habes  ? 

VIII.— Ad  Mattum 

Qui  negat  esse  domi  se,  tune  cum  limina  pulsas, 
quid  dicat,  nescis  ?     Dormio,  Matte,  tibi. 

IX. — Ad  Milonem 

TURA,  piper,  vestes,  argentum,  pallia,  gemmas, 
vendere,  Milo,  soles ;  cum  quibus  emtor  abit. 

coniugis  utilior  merx  est :  quae  vendita  saepe, 
vendentem  iiunquam  deserit  aut  minuit. 


NEC  volo  me  summis  fortuna  nee  applicet  imis, 
sed  medium  vitae  temperet  ilia  gradum. 

invidia  excelsos,  inopes  iniuria  vexat : 
quam  felix  vivit,  quisquis  utroque  caret ! 


1  i.e.  whose  "  cheek "  ?  The  forehead  was  the  seat  of 
shame :  cf.  Pers.  v.  103  (frontem  perisse  de  rebus)  and  Shak. 
It.  and  J.  ur.  ii.  91,  "  upon  his  brow  (Shame  is  ashamed 
to  sit." 

524 


VII-X 

VII. — Against  a  Shameless  Person 

You  say  you  have  your  fourth  grandfather's  mouth, 
your  father's  nose,  both  your  father's  eyes,  and  your 
mother's  carnage.  Since  you  recall  your  ancestors 
— and  do  not  describe  incorrectly  any  part  of  your 
body — tell  me,  whose  forehead  x  have  you  ? 


VIII. — To  Mattus 

DON'T  you  know  what  he  says  who  denies  himself 
just  when  you  knock  at  his  door?  "To  you,  Mattus, 
I  am  asleep."2 

IX.— To  Milo 

FRANKINCENSE,  pepper, garments, silver  plate,  cloaks, 
jewels  you  are  accustomed  to  sell,  Milo,  and  the  buyer 
goes  off  with  them.  Your  wife  is  as  merchandise 
more  useful  to  you  :  she,  though  often  sold,  never 
leaves  the  seller  or  diminishes  his  estate. 


X. — On  a  Middle  Station 

I  \\OULD  not  have  Fortune  set  me  in  the  highest 
or  in  the  lowest  place ;  rather  let  her  moderation 
gi'ant  life's  middle  station.  Envy  assails  the  high, 
wrong  the  weak  :  how  happy  does  he  live  who 
escapes  both  ! 

2  An  allusion  to  the  proverb  "  Non  omnibus  dormio"  said 
of  those  that  are  willing  to  be  blind  to  the  doings  of  some 
others,  but  not  of  everybody  :  Fest.  xii.  487  ;  Cic.  Ep.  vii.  "24. 
Erasmus  (Adag.  s.v.)  tells  the  story  of  one  Galba,  who  pre- 
tended to  sleep  while  Maecenas  toyed  with  his  wife,  but 
woke  up  when  a  slave  began  to  steal  his  wine. 

525 


EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED   TO   MARTIAL 

XI. — Ad  Scaevolam 

SCAEVOLA,  tu  coenas  apud  omnes,  nullus  apud  te : 

alterius  siccas  pocula,  nemo  tua. 
aut  tu  redde  vices,  aut  desine  velle  vocari : 

dedecus  est  semper  sumere,  nilque  dare. 

XII. — Ad  Auclum 

EXIGIS  a  nobis,  quern  nulli  solvis,  amorem  : 
quam  nulli  praestas,  exigis,  Aucte,  fidem. 

exigis  a  nobis,  quern  non  merearis,  honorem  :    • 
mirum  est.  quod  non  das,  id  tibi  velle  dari. 

XIII.— De  Filo 

PALLIA  Filus  habet,  digitos  circumligat  auro  : 

sed  tamen  est  Filus  paupere  pauperior. 
sunt  Tyriae  chlamydes,  mille  instrumenta,  clientes 

Filo :  sed  tamen  est  paupere  pauperior. 
atria  sunt  Filo  regali  consita  cultu  :  .  5 

sed  tamen  est  Filus  paupere  pauperior. 
esurit  atque  sitit,  gemmis  instructus  et  auro ; 

Cyclade  vestitus  esurit  atque  sitit. 
pondus  adesse  famis,  pallor  maciesque  loquuntur  : 

aurea  bulla  negat  pondus  adesse  famis.  10 

ergo  miser  se  servitio  pro  pane  locabit : 

sed  ne  sit  servus  aurea  bulla  facit. 
si  vero  quenquam  pulsabit  supplice  voto, 

ut  non  exoret,  serica  vestis  adest. 

* 

1  cf.  in.  xxvii. 

2  The  epigram  is  on  a  miserly  rich  man. 

3  The  bulla  was  an  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a  heart  worn 
by  children  up  to  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  then  consecrated 

526 


XI-XIII 

* 

XI. — To  Scaevola 

SCAKVOLA,  you  dine  with  everybody,  no  one  with 
you  ;  another  man's  cups  you  drain,  no  one  drains 
yours.  Either  make  return,  or  give  over  looking  for 
invitations :  it  is  a  disgrace  always  to  take  and  give 
nothing.1 

XII.— To  Auctus 

You  claim  from  us  what  you  pay  to  no  one,  love ; 
what  you  accord  to  no  man  you  claim,  Auctus,  trust. 
You  claim  from  us  what  you  don't  deserve,  honour ; 
it  is  wonderful  that  what  you  don't  give  you  expect 
to  be  given  you. 

XIII. — On  Film 

FILUS  possesses  cloaks,  he  surrounds  his  fingers 
with  gold,  but  yet  Filus  is  poorer  than  the  poor.2 
Filus  has  Tyrian  mantles,  a  thousand  appointments, 
clients,  but  yet  he  is  poorer  than  the  poor.  Filus 
has  a  hall  furnished  in  royal  style,  but  yet  Filus  is 
poorer  than  the  poor.  He  hungers  and  thirsts  while 
he  is  arrayed  in  jewels  and  gold  ;  though  he  is  clad 
in  an  embroidered  robe  he  hungers  and  thirsts.  His 
pallor  and  emaciation  bespeak  a  load  of  hunger ;  his 
gold  brooch  says  there  is  no  load  of  hunger.  The 
wretched  man  will  then  hire  himself  out  in  slavery 
for  bread,  but  his  gold  amulet  prevents  him  being  a 
slave.3  If,  indeed,  he  assails  any  man  with  suppliant 
prayers,  his  silken  garb  is  at  hand  to  prevent  him 

to  the  Lares,  or  Household  (Joels.  It  was  gold  in  the  case  of 
children  of  free  birth,  leather  in  the  case  of  children  of  fri-cd- 
men.  It  enclosed  an  amulet  (a,  phallus)  against  the  evil  eye  ; 
hence  it  was  worn  by  a  victorious  general  during  a  triumph  : 
Macrob.  Sat.  i.  6. 

527 


EPIGRAMS   ASCRIBED   TO    MARTIAL   • 

ergo  ne  pereat,  fiat  de  divite  pauper:  15 

pauper  enim  factus  ditior  esse  potest. 

XIV.— Ad  Aulum 

NON  sanguis,  non  oris  honor,  non  gloria  census, 
non  gravitas  morum  proderit,  Aule,  tibi. 

pauper  enim  tu  semper  eris,  quia  pauper  es :  et  te 
colligit  ulterior  ulteriore  gradus. 

XV. — Ad  Regulum 

PRAEDICAT  Hermagoras,  non  omnibus  esse  placendum. 
elige  de  multis,  Regule,  cui  placeas. 

XVI.—  Ad  Aulicum 

MULTA  mihi  donas,  vereor  ne  multa  requiras. 
nolo  mihi  dones,  Aulice,  si  repetas. 

*r 

XVII. — Ad  Germanicum 

EXALTAS  in  lite  tuam,  Germanice,  vocem, 
ut  furias  mentis  vox  furiosa  sonet. 


XVIII.— Ad  Bassnm 

OMNIS  amicus  amat,  sed  non  qui  amat  omnis  amicus  : 
sed  quern,  Basse,  tu  ames,  esto  et  amicus  ei. 

1  v.  Ixxxi.  has  a  similar  sentiment. 

2  A  Greek  rhetorician  who  came  to  Rome  in  the  time  of 
Augustus. 

528 


XIII-XVIII 

prevailing.  So,  that  he  may  not  perish,  let  him  from 
rich  become  poor;  for  a- man  become  poor  may  acquire 
riches. 

XIV.— To  Auhts 

NOT  blood,  not  beauty  of  face,  not  proud  estate, 
not  weight  of  character  will  avail  you,  Aulus.  For 
you  will  be  always  poor  because  you  are  poor : l  and 
a  grade  lower  than  the  lowest  includes  you. 

XV. — To  Regulus 

HERMAGORAS  2  preaches  that  one  need  not  please 
everybody.  Choose,  Regulus,3  some  one  out  of  many 
to  please. 

XVI.— To  Aulkus 

You  make  me  many  presents:  I  am  afraid  you  will 
require  many  in  return.  I  don't  want  you,  Aulicus, 
to  give  me  anything  if  youc  laim  an  equivalent. 

XVII. — To  Germanicus 

You  raise  your  voice,  Germanicus,  in  court  that  a 
furious  voice  may  echo  to  the  fury  of  your  mind. 

XVIII.— To  Bassus 

EVERY  friend  loves,  but  not  every  man  who  loves 
is  a  friend  :  but  do  you,  Bassus,  be  also  a  friend  to 
the  man  you  love. 

^  An  eminent  advocate,  many  times  alluded  to  by  Martial, 
but  in  more  complimentary  terms  :  cf.  IV.  xvi.  6. 

529 
VOL.  II.  M    M 


EPIGRAMS    ASCRIBED   TO   MARTIAL 

XIX.— In   Turgidum 

IN  noctem  prandes,  in  noctem,  Turgide,  coenas, 
multimodoque  mades  nocte  dieque  niero. 

cumque  cuti  studeas,  uxorem  ducere  noil  vis : 
cum  nolis,  dicis,  Vita  pudica  placet. 

Turgide,  mentiris.     Non  est  haec  vita  pudica. 
vis  dicam,  quae  sit  vita  pudica  ?     Modus. 

XX. — In   Chloen 

LASCIVO  Ganymede  cales  :  te  quilibet  intrat : 
Hippolytos  etiam  reddis  amore  graves. 

plurimus  interea  tibi  limen  servat  adulter  : 
exposita  es  cuivis  :  quam  populare  sapis  ! 

Demophilem  cuperem  te  dicere,  te  nisi  mater 
esse  Chloen  vellet.     Non  sapit  atque  sapit. 

XXI. — In  La'idem 

FORMOSISSIMA  Lai  feminarum, 
dum  noctis  pretium  tibi  require, 
magnum  continue  petis  talentum  : 
tanti  non  emo,  Lai',  poenitere. 

XXTI. — In  Maciinum 

DEFUNGI  fungis  homines,  Macrine,  negabas  : 
boleti  leti  causa  fuere  tui. 

1  cf.  vni.  xlvi.  2.         2  i.e.  loved  by  the  people. 

3  The  point  of  the  epigram  is  very  obscure. 

*  The  Attic  talent  of  60  minae  of  silver,  about  £240. 


530 


XIX-XXII 

XIX. — Against   Turgidus 

TILL  nightfall  you  lunch,  till  nightfall,  Turgidus, 
you  dine,  and  with  all  sorts  of  wine  day  and  night 
you  reek.  And,  although  you  are  careful  of  your 
person,  you  are  unwilling  to  take  a  wife;  your  un- 
willingness says  :  "  A  chaste  life  pleases  me."  Tur- 
gidus, you  lie  ;  this  is  not  a  chaste  life.  Would  you 
have  me  tell  you  what  is  a  chaste  life  ?  Moderation. 

XX. — Against  Chloe 

You  are  hot  for  a  wanton  Ganymede ;  you  are 
every  man's  goods ;  even  Hippolytuses J  you  make 
heavy  with  lust.  In  the  meantime  many  an  adulterer 
hangs  about  your  threshold ;  you  are  exposed  for 
sale  to  anyone  :  how  popular  is  your  taste  !  I  should 
have  wished  to  have  called  you  Demophile,2  had  not 
your  mother  wished  you  should  be  Chloe :  she  is 
unwise  and  wise.3 

XXI. — Against  Lais 

LAIS,  most  beautiful  of  women,  when  I  ask  you 
what  is  the  price  of  your  favours,  you  at  once  require 
a  great 4  talent.  At  such  a  cost,  Lais,  I  do  not  buy 
repentance.5 

XXII. — Against  Macrinus 

You  used  to  deny,  Macrinus,  that  men  could  be- 
come defunct  through  funguses :  mushrooms  made 
room  for  your  heirs  !  ° 

5  This  is  the  answer  said  to  have  been  made  by  Demos- 
thenes to  Lais,  the  Corinthian  courtesan  :  Gell.  i.  8.  Perhaps 
the  epigram  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  1). 

'  The  pun  on  ltd  and  boleti  can  only  be  paraphrased-. 

53' 

M    M    2 


INDEXES 


INDEX    OF   PROPER   NAMES 


Apicius,  M.  Gabius,  a  noted 
gourmand  of  the  time  of  Tiberius. 
According  to  Seneca  (Ad  Helv. 
x.)  after  spending  in  gluttony 
one  hundred  million  sesterces 
(£800,000),  he  found  himself  op- 
pressed by  debt,  looked  into  his 
accounts,  and,  discovering  he 
had  remaining  only  ten  millions 
committed  suicide.  Martial 
alludes  to  this  (in.  xxii.),  giving 
the  sums  as  sixty  millions  and 
tea  respectively.  Pliny  (N.H. 
ix.  30)  speaks  of  him  as  ad  omne 
luxus  ingenium  mirus,  and  (N.H. 
x.  68)  calls  him  nepotum  omnium 
altissimus  gurges.  Athenaeus 
(i.  12)  tells  how  that,  hearing 
lobsters  were  very  large  in  Libya, 
he  set  off  at  once,  but  finding 
from  samples  that  they  were  of 
ordinary  size,  he  returned  with- 
out landing 

Apollinaris,  Domitiiis,  a  learned 
friend  of  M.  and  a  favourable 
critic  of  his  epigrams  (iv.  Ixxvi ; 
vn.  xxvi.).  M.  (x.  xxx.)  describes 
his  villa  at  Formiae.  He  is 
perhaps  the  A.  alluded  to  by 
Pliny  (Ep.  ix.  13)  as  consul 
designatus  in  A.D.  97 

Aucttig,  Pomponius,  a  learned 
lawyer,  and  admirer  of  Martial, 
whose  works  he  knew  by  heart, 
vn.  ii. 

Avitus,  Stertinius,  Consul  A.D.  92. 
He  placed  a  bust  of  M.  in  his 
library,  of  which  M.  writes 
(IX.  Introd.  Ep.)  the  inscription. 
M!  addresses  to  him  an  epigram 
(x.  xcvi.)  on  the  charms  of 
country  life  in  Spain 

MART.  II. 


Baetis,  the  Guadalquivir,  the  prin- 
cipal river  in  Hispania  Baetica, 
according  to  Pliny  (iii.  3)  the 
most  fertile  province  hi  Spain. 
It  flows  past  Corduba  and 
Hispalis  (Cordova  and  Seville) 
and  falls  into  the  Atlantic  N.  of 
Gades  (Cadiz).  The  district  was 
renowned  for  olives  (xn.  Ixiii.  2 : 
xii.  xcviii.  1),  which  Martial 
thinks  superior  to  those  of 
Venafrum  :  vn.  xxviii.  3  ;  and 
Statius  to  Attic,  Silr.  n.  vii.  29  ; 
whereas  Pliny  (xv.  3)  thinks  the 
olives  of  Venafrum  superior  to 
those  of  Baetica  and  Istria. 
The  province  of  Baetica  was  also 
celebrated  for  its  wool,  to  which 
the  waters  of  the  Baetis  gave  a 
golden  hue,  often  alluded  to  by 
Martial 

BilbUis,  the  second  city  of  Hispania 
Tarraconensis,  on  the  high  road 
between  Emerita  and  Caesar 
Augusta  (Merida  and  Saragossa). 
Was  a  7nunicipium  in  Imperial 
times.  It  stood  on  a  rocky 
height  surrounded  by  the  Salo, 
a  river  famed  for  tempering 
iron.  Its  site  is  at  or  near 
Bambola,  near  Calatayud,  a 
Moorish  City  built  by  Ayub,  the 
nephew  of  Musa,  the  Governor 
of  N.W.  Africa  at  the  time  of  the 
Arab  invasion,  who  used  the 
remains  of  Bilbilis  as  a  quarry. 
Bilbilis  was  also  the  scene  of  a 
battle  between  A.  Metellus  and 
the  insurgent  Sertorius  in  B.C.  74 

Castricus,  some  friend  of  Martial, 
who  is  addressed  in  several 

535 


INDEX    OF   PROPER   NAMES 


epigrams.  It  would  appear  from 
vn.  xlii.  that  he  was  a  poet 

Cerialis,  a  friend  of  Martial,  whom 
the  poet  invites  to  dinner  in  t\vo 
epigrams,  x.  xlviii.  and  xi.  Hi. 
He  was  a  poet  and  imitator  of 
VirgiL  and  wrote  bucolics  and  a 
poem  on  the  war  of  the  Giants, 
XI.  lii.  17,  18.  Pliny  (Ep.  ii.  19) 
addresses  one  of  his  letters  to 
him 

Claudia  Rufina,  a  lady  of  British 
birth,  whose  refinement  Martial 
praises  as  equal  to  that  of  a 
Roman  or  a  Greek,  xi.  liii.  She 
may  be  the  same  as  the  Claudia 
that  married  Pudens,  whose 
marriage  the  poet  celebrates, 
iv.  xiii. 

Crispinus,  a  low  upstart  who  came 
from  Egypt  and  hawked  salt 
fish  in  Rome,  Juv.  iv.  33.  He 
was  raised  to  the  Senate  by 
Nero,  and  was  made  a  knight  by 
Domitian.  Juvenal  calls  him 
(i.  26)  verna  Canopi,  and  (iv.  31) 
purpureus  scurra  Palati ;  and 
speaks  of  him  as  matutino  sudans 
amomo,  iv.  108.  He  was  com- 
mander of  the  Emperor's  body- 
guard (pmefectus  praetorio),  an 
office  summus  equester  gradus  : 
Suet.  Galb.  14.  Martial  alludes 
to  him  in  two  epigrams,  vn.  xcix. 
and  vm.  xlviii. 

Decianus,  of  Emerita,  another 
friend  of  Martial.  He  was  a 
Stoic,  and  is  praised  for  not 
following  the  example  of  suicide, 
I.  viii.  His  literary  works 
conferred  distinction  on  his 
birthplace,  I.  Ixi.  10.  Martial 
speaks  of  his  learning,  sim- 
plicity, and  rectitude,  I.  xxxix.  ; 
and  addresses  to  him  the  Intro- 
ductory Epistle  of  his  second 
book.  In  ii.  v.  he  is  rallied  on 
the  distance  M.  has  to  go  to 
call  on  him,  and  the  difficulty  of 
finding  him  at  home 

Earinos,  the  page  of  Domitian,  on 
whose  name  M.  plays  in  three 

536 


epigrams,  ix.  xi.-xiii. ;  and 
whose  dedication  of  his  hah-  to 
Aesculapius  M.  celebrates,  ix.  xvi. 
and  xvii. ;  see  also  ix.  xxxvi.  3. 
Statius  (Silv.  in.  iv.)  has  a  long 
poem  on  the  latter  subject 

Entellus,  a  freedman,  Domitian's 
secretary  a  libellis  (petitions). 
Was  privy  (with  Parthenius)  to 
the  Emperor's  assassination.  M. 
praises  his  greenhouses,  Till. 
Ixviii. 

Erotion,  a  little  slave  girl,  whose 
death  M.  laments  in  three  of  his 
finest  epigrams,  v.  xxxiy.  and 
xxxvii. ;  x.  Ixi.  But  in  the 
second  epigram  mentioned  the 
harmony  of  the  poem  is  somewhat 
spoilt  by  the  sarcastic  touch  at 
the  end 

Etruscus,  Claudius,  father  and 
son.  The  father  came  originally 
as  a  slave  from  Smyrna,  and  was 
emancipated  by  Tiberius,  in 
whose  household  he  was.  He 
was  successively  in  the  service 
of  Caligula,  Claudius,  Nero,  and 
Domitian,  being  under  Nero  the 
head  of  the  Imperial  treasury. 
By  Domitian  he  was  banished  to 
Campania :  Stat.  Silv.  in.  iii. 
164,  who  describes  him  as 
hospes,  non  exul.  He  married 
a  rich  wife,  and  lived  to  a  great 
age.  His  son  accompanied  his 
father  into  exile.  M.  has  epi- 
grams on  the  father's  exile  and 
recall,  vi.  Ixxxiii. ;  and  on  his 
death,  vn.  xl. ;  and  on  the  sou's 
baths,  vi.  xlii.,  which  are  also 
eulogised  by  Statius  (Silv.  I.  V.) 
who  also  writes  a  lament  on  the 
father's  death,  Silv.  in.  iii. 

Faustinus,  Julius,  a  friend  fre- 
quently addressed,  and  a  poet 
whom  M.  (I.  xxv.)  advises  to 
publish,  and  to  whom  "(III.  ii.  6) 
he  sends  his  third  book,  and  (IV. 
x.)  his  fourth.  He  had  villas  at 
Anxur  (x.  Ii.),  Tibur  (iv.  Ivii.) 
and  Baiae,  the  latter  of  which,  M 
(ill.  Iviii.)  elaborately  describes. 
M.  appeals  to  him  (vn.  xii.)  on 
the  question  of  the  unmalicious 


INDEX    OF    PROPER    NAMES 


character  of  his  epigrams.  Nothing 
more  is  known  of  him 

Festus,  a  friend  of  the  Emperor, 
who  died  of  a  cancer  in  the 
face,  i.  Ixxviii.  If  he  be  the 
same  as  the  Valerius  Festus, 
spoken  of  by  Pliny  (Ep.  iii.  7) 
as  guilty  per  sitmmum  facinus  of 
the  murder  in  A.D.  69  of  Piso 
the  proconsul  of  Africa  (see 
Tac.  Hist.  iv.  49)  M.  is  hardly 
justified  in  speaking  of  his 
tndiqmu  fauces  and  pia  ora. 
Tacitus,  supra,  describes  him  as 
sumptuosae  ailulescentiae,  neque 
modica  cupiens 

Flaccus,  a  native  of  Patavium,  is 
addressed  by  Martial  in  many 
epigrams ;  he  is  a  guest  ia 
x.  xlviii.,  and  in  xir.  Ixxiv. 
Qartial  makes  him  a  present  of 
"  dreadnought "  glass.  He 

appears  to  have  been  a  poet, 
1. 1x1.  and  Ixxvi.  Some  commen- 
tators, on  the  strength  of  the 
two  epigrams  mentioned,  have 
identified  him  with  Valerius 
Flaccus,  the  epic  poet  of  the 
Argonautica.  But  it  is  not  certain 
that  Valerius  Flaccus  was  born 
at  Patavium  ;  Setia  in  Campania 
contends  for  the  honour  of  being 
his  birthplace,  and  the  Vatican 
MS.  has  appended  the  words 
"  Setinus  Balbus."  And  Quin- 
tilian  says  (x.  i.  90)  mullum  in 
Valeria  Flacco  nuper  amisimus  ; 
consequently  V.  Flaccus  must 
have  died  before  A.D.  90  or  91, 
the  probable  date  of  Quintilian's 
great  work,  in  which  case  none 
of  Martial's  last  six  books  at 
least  can  refer  to  him.  The 
notes  to  IX.  Iv.  2  and  XI.  Ixxx. 
3  should  be  corrected.  It  is 
noticeable  also  that  Martial 
never  refers — as  might  have  been 
expected— to  Vi&Argonauticn,  as 
he  does  to  the  jPunica  of  Silius. 
Frontinus,  Sextus  Julius,  succeeded 
Petilius  Cerealis,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Agricola,  as  Governor 
of  Britain.  Tacitus  (Ag.  17) 
describes  him  as  "  a  great  man 
so  far  as  he  was  permitted  to 


be,"  i.e.  by  the  Emperor's 
jealousy.  He  subdued  the 
powerful  and  warlike  Silures  in 
South  Wales  in  spite  of  the 
difficulties  of  the  country  (Tac. 
supra).  In  A.D.  97  he  was 
curator  aquarum,  and  in  98 
Consul  (according  to  M.)  for  the 
second  time  ;  but  his  name  does 
not  appear  in  the  Fasti  (Hoffm. 
Lex.  Univ.).  He  had  been 
Praetor  Urbanus  in  70  (Tac.  Hist. 
iv.  39),  an  office  he  resigned  to 
Domitian,  not  then  Emperor.  He 
.  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  art  of  war 
called  Strategemata,  and  a  work 
on  the  Roman  aqueducts,  both  of 
which  are  extant.  He  died  in 
106,  saying  in  his  will  impensa 
monumenti  supervacua  est ;  me- 
moria  nostri  durabit  si  vita 
meruimus 

Pronto,  described  by  M.  (I.  Iv.)  as 
a  distinguished  lawyer  and  soldier. 
Perhaps  the  same  as  T.  Catius 
Fronto,  consul  in  96,  and  alluded 
to  by  Pliny  (Ep.  iv.  9  and  vi.  13) 
as  an  orator 

Fuscus,  apparently  a  lawyer  of 
some  eminence  and  wealth  whom 
Martial  (vn.  xxyiii)  begs  to  read 
and  criticise  his  seventh  book. 
He  is  not  the  Cornelius  Fuscus 
who  fell  in  the  Dacian  war,  VI. 
Ixxvi ;  and  perhaps  not  the 
Fuscus  whom  M.  courts  iu  I.  liv. 

lanthis,  or  Vioientilla,  the  wife  of 
Stella  the  poH.  Martial  (VI.  xxl.) 
as  well  as  Statius  (SUv.  I.  ii.) 
celebrates  her  marriage.  The 
name  is  taken  from  iov,  the 
Greek  form  of  riola.  Statius 
calls  her  Asterii 

Latinus,  a  celebrated  mime,  or 
comic  actor.  He  was  a  favourite 
of  Domitian,  and  :i  delator, 
Schol  on  Juv.  iv.  63.  Martini 
writes  an  epigram  (IX.  xxviii).  on 
his  portrait.  Suetonius  (Dom. 
15)  tells  a  story  how  Latinus, 
when  dining  with  Domitian 
before  the  murder  of  the  latter, 
had  disturbed  the  Emperor,  who 
had  been  alarmed  by  various 

537 


INDEX   OF    PROPER   NAMES 


ominous  occurrences,  by  report- 
ing the  fulfilment  of  a  prophecy 
by  Ascletarion,  the  astrologer,  of 
the  manner  of  his  own  death, 
i.e.,  being  torn  by  dogs,  whereas 
Domitian  to  prevent  this  had 
commanded  him  to  be  buried. 

Licinianus  was  born  like  Martial  at 
Bilbilis.  He  is  spoken  of  highly 
by  the  poet  as  bringing  glory  to 
Spain,  I.  xlix  and  I.  Ixi.  He 
is  perhaps  the  Lucius  mentioned 
in  IV.  Iv.  The  epigram  i.  xlix 
seems  to  show  he  was  a  lawyer. 

Licinus,  was  originally  a  Gaulish 
prisoner  taken  by  Julius  Caesar, 
who  gave  him  his  freedom,  and 
made  him  his  steward.  Augustus 
appointed  him,  in  B.C.  15, 
Governor  of  Gaul.  By  extortion 
during  his  government  he 
acquired  enormous  wealth  ;  and 
Juvenal  (i.  109)  couples  him 
with  Claudius'  freedman  Pallas 
as  the  typical  rich  man.  The 
magnificence  of  his  tomb  on  the 
Via  Salaria  (as  of  that  of 
Messalla)  was  proverbial,  viil. 
iii.  5,  6 

Lucanus,  Cn.  Domitius  Curvius,  the 
brother  of  Cn.  Domitius  Tullus. 
The  two  brothers  were  types  of 
fraternal  affection,  I.  xxxvi., 
and  v.  xxviii.  3,  and  Martial 
(ix.  li.)  compares  them  to 
Castor  and  Pollux.  He  died 
before  his  brother,  after  having 
held  high  office  under  Nero  and 
Domitian.  Both  are  alluded  to 
by  Pliny,  Ep.  viii.  18 

Lucanus,  M.  Annaeus,  the  poet  of 
the  Pharsalia,  was  the  son  of 
Lucius  Annaeus  Mela,  the  geo- 
grapher, and  the  nephew  of 
Seneca,  the  philosopher,  and  was 
born  at  Corduba  in  Spain.  At 
first  he  was  in  favour  with  Nero, 
but  afterwards,  from  the  Em- 
peror's jealousy  of  his  literary 
ability,  fell  into  disfavour,  and 
was  forbidden  to  recite  in  public. 
From  pique  he  joined  the 
Pisonian  conspiracy  of  A.D.  •  65, 
and  was  offered  a  pardon  if  he 
would  betray  his  fellow-con- 

53« 


spirators.  He  denounced  his 
own  mother  Atilla.  But  this 
did  not  save  him,  for  he  was 
forced  by  Nero  to  commit  suicide 
by  opening  his  veins  in  a  bath  : 
Tac.  An.  xv.  70.  Martial,  who 
regarded  him  as  next  to  Virgil, 
laments  his  death  in  three 
epigrams,  vii.  xxi-xxiii. ;  as 
also  does  Statius,  Silv.  II.  vii. 
His  first  work  was  on  the  death 
of  Hector  and  Priam's  recovery 
of  the  body,  Stat.  Silv.  n.  vii. 
54  ;  and  his  last  the  Pharsalia  ; 
but,  according  to  Martial  (x. 
Ixiv.)  he  did  not  confine  himself 
to  grave  subjects.  Juvenal  (vii. 
79)  says  he  was  a  rich  man  ; 
and  Tacitus  (Ann.  xvi.  17)  tttat 
Nero  was  greedy  for  his  wealth 

Macer,  a  friend  of  Martial,  and  at 
one  time  curator  of  the  Appian 
Way  (x.  xvii.),  and  afterwards 
propraetor  of  Dalmatia  (x. 
Ixxviii.).  Martial  in  two  epi- 
grams (v.  xxviii.  5,  and  x. 
Ixxviii.  2)  speaks  of  his  honesty 
and  uprightness.  He  is  probably 
not  the  Macer  who  was  Governor 
of  Baetica  (xn.  xcviii.) 

Alarcella,  a  Spanish  lady  from 
Bilbilis,  to  whom  M.  addresses 
two  epigrams,  in  one  (xn.  xxi.) 
praising  her  mind  as  truly 
Roman,  and  in  the  other  (xn. 
xxxi.)  acknowledging  the  gift  of 
the  country  house  she  gave  him 
when  he  returned  to  Spain. 
Some  have  supposed  she  was 
his  wife 

Marcellinus  served  in  the  Sarmatian 
campaign,-  VI.  xxv.,  vii.  !xxx ; 
and  in  the  Caucasus,  ix.  xlv. 
Martial  sends  him  his  seventh 
book,  vn.  Ixxx.  ;  and  writes  on 
his  father's  birthday,  in.  vi. 
He  also  warns  him  against  over- 
rash  valour  :  h6  should  consider 
his  father,  as  well  as  his  Em- 
peror, vi.  xxv.  That  father  is 
supposed  to  have  been  Faustinus. 
Marcellinus  himself  is  called 
boni  suboles  sincera  parentis, 
VI,  xxv. 


INDEX   OF    PROPER    NAMES 


Martsus,  Domilius,  a  poet  of  the 
Augustan  age,  frequently  men- 
tioned by  Martial,  together  with 
Pedo  and  Catullus,  with  whom 
he  compares  himself,  v.  v.  6 ; 
vn.  xcix.  7.  He  wrote  epics. 
Ov.  Ex.  P.  iv.  xvi.  5 ;  and 
Martial  alludes  to  an  Amazonis 
(iv.  xxix.  8)  which,  however,  he 
regards  as  inferior  to  the 
satires  of  Persius.  Marsus  is 
chiefly  distinguished  for  his 
epigrams,  which  were  licentious 
and  biting,  one  of  his  books  being 
called  cicitta  (hemlock).  An  epi- 
taph of  his  on  Tibullus  is  extant 

Martialis,  Julius,  a  friend  for  33 
years  of  the  poet,  by  whom  he  is 
addressed  in  some  of  the  finest 
epigrams,  i.  xv.  ;  v.  xx.,  x. 
xlvii,  and  xii.  xxxiv.  Martial 
also  describes  his  villa  on  the 
.Taniculum,  iv.  Ixiv ;  and  his 
library,  vn.  xvii.  Paley  identi- 
fies him  with  the  Julius  Martialis 
mentioned  by  Tacitus  (Hist. 
i.  28  and  82)  as  tribunus  legionis, 
when  Otho  was  aspiring  to  the 
purple,  and  as  being  suspected 
of  complicity  with  the  plot.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  good 
critic,  VI.  i ;  and  Martial  sends 
him  his  sixth  book,  ibid.  ;  and 
he  is  probably  also  the  Martialis 
to  whom  is  sent  the  third  book 
from  Forum  Cornelii,  in.  v. 

Maternus,  a  jurisconsult,  whom 
Martial  describes  as  a  fellow- 
townsman  of  Bilbilis,  and  an  old 
friend,  x.  xxxvii.  1,  3.  In  the 
same  epigram  M,  compares  the 
charm  of  life  in  Spain  with  life 
in  a  lloman  villa 

Melior,  Atedius,  a  ban  vicant  of  the 
time,  called  nitidus,  IV.  liv.  8. 
Martial  praises  him  (vm.  xxxviii) 
for  his  liberality  to  the  Guild  of 
Scribes  in  memory  of  his  friend 
Blaesus ;  and  both  Martial 
(VI.  xxviii  and  xxix),  and 
Statius  (Sib.  n.  i.)  have  written 
on  the  death  of  his  freedman 
Glaucias 

Messatta  Corvinus,  M.  Valerius,  the 
friend  of  Horace  and  patron  of 


Tibullus.  Was  Consu  u.C.  31 
and  Praefectus  Urbi  in  27.  He 
was  a  patron  of  learning  and 
the  arts,  and  was  himself  a  poet, 
a  grammarian,  historian,  and 
orator.  He  took  the  side  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius  in  the  civil 
war,  but  was  afterwards  recon- 
ciled to  Augustus.  His  tomb 
(alluded  to  by  Martial,  VHI.  iii. 
5  and  x.  ii.  9)  was,  like  thn't  of 
Licinus,  celebrated  for  its  splen- 
dour 

Nomentum,  now  La  Mentana,  a 
town  in  the  Sabine  Country, 
14J-  Roman  miles  N.E.  of  Rome. 
Originally  a  Latin  town,  a  colony 
from  Alba,  it  was  taken  by 
Tarquinius  Priscus,  the  fifth 
king  of  Rome.  Martial,  aud 
also  Seneca,  had  a  house  here, 
vi.  xliii.  4,  ix.  xviii.  2 ;  and 
here  M.  retired  when  he  wanted 
quiet,  XII.  Ivii.  27.  Nomentum 
was  celebrated  for  its  wine, 
which,  when  it  was  old,  M. 
praises,  I.  cv.,  and  offers  to  his 
guests  in  X.  xlviii.  19  ;  but  the 
poet  in  other  respects  depreciates 
his  property,  X.  xciv.  His 
fields,  he  says  (VII.  xxxl.  8) 
"  produced  nothing  but  himself  " 

Ovidius,  Q.,  Martial's  friend  and 
neighbour  at  Nomentum.  He 
had  accompanied  Caesonius 
Maximus  into  exile  when  the 
former  was  banished  by  Nero,  for 
which  Martial  (VII.  xliv.  and  xlv.) 
praises  him.  In  his  old  ago  he 
accompanied  a  friend  to  Britain, 
apparently  in  fulfilment  of  a 
promise,  or  from  atfection,  X. 
xliv.  .Martial  writes  two  epi- 
grams (ix.  Hi.  and  liii)  on  his 
birthday 

Paris,  a  mime  or  comic  actor,  for 
whom  Martial  writes  an  epitaph 
(xi.  xiii).  He  hud  great  influence 
at  Court,  and  was  the  darling  of 
the  lloman  people.  Domltian, 
on  suspicion  of  his  intrigue  with 

539 


INDEX   OF    PROPER    NAMES 


the  Empress  Domitia,  caused 
him  to  be  murdered  on  the 
Flaminian  Way 

Parthenius,  a  freedman,  and  Secre- 
tary or  chamberlain  to  Domitian. 
Though  he  had  been  privy  to  the 
murder  of  that  Emperor,  the 
mildness  of  Nerva  retained  him 
for  a  time  in  his  place,  but  was 
unable  to  protect  him  against 
the  infuriated  praetorians  who 
put  him  to  death  with  nameless 
indignities  in  A.D.  -97.  He  seems 
to  have  been  something  of  a  poet, 
XI.  i.  6;  XII.  xi.  2.  and  is  con- 
stantly flattered  by  Martial,  to 
whom  he  gave  the  celebrated 
toga  described  in  Viii.  xxviii. 

Paulus,  some  rich  acquaintance  of 
Martial,  apparently  a  lawyer, 
ni.  Ixxii.  Martial  quizzes  him 
on  the  tenuity  of  the  bowl  Paulus 
had  sent  him,  vui.  xxxiii. ; 
and  on  his  greed,  ix.  Ixxxv. ; 
and  satirises  his  adulation  of 
great  men,  although  he  is  him- 
self consul,  x.  x. ;  and  his  false 
antiques  and  equally  false  friends, 
xii.  Ixix. ;  and  complains  of 
the  trouble  of  calling  upon  him 
at  a  distance  "only  to  find  him 
"  not  at  home,"  v.  xxii.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
wit,  v.  xxviii.  6. 

Pedo,  Albinovanns,  a  poet  and 
epigrammatist  of  the  Augustan 
age,  and  a  friend  of  Ovid,  who 
addresses  him  in  one  of  'the 
Epistles  from  the  Pontus :  Ep. 
ex  P.  iv.  x. ;  and  alludes  to 
his  poem  on  the  exploits  of 
Theseus.  Martial  compares  him- 
self with  him  and  with  Marsus 
and  Catullus,  v.  v.  6 

Plinius,  Caius  Caecilius,  Secundus, 
the  nephew  and  adopted  son 
of  the  historian,  born  A.D.  61 
or  62,  probably  at  Comum. 
An  orator,  advocate  and  man  of 
letters.  He  studied  under  Quin- 
tilian,  and  practised  before  the 

•  Centumviral  Court,  and  filled 
several  offices,  being  Consul  in 
100  (in  which  year  he  delivered 
his  Panegyric  on  Trajan),  and 


Propraetor    of    Pontica    in   103. 
His  works  consist  of  the  Pane- 
gyric on  Trajan  above  mentioned, 
and   ten   books   of   Epistles,   of 
which  the  tenth  consists  of  letters 
to    Trajan    and    the    Emperor's 
replies,  two  of  which  (97  and  98) 
are     especially     interesting     by 
their  allusion  to  the  Christians. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  age.  Martial  addressed 
an   epigram   (x.    xix.)   to   him ; 
but  the  Secundus  alluded  to  in 
vn.    Ixxxiv.    (where    the    note 
should  be  corrected)  chronology 
shows  not  to  be  the  same 
Primus,  Marcus  Antonius,  was  born 
at  Tolosa  in  Gaul  (ix.  xcix.  3), 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  Civil 
war  that  made  Vespasian  Em- 
peror, and  was  the  first  to  enter 
Rome  after  the  second  battle  of 
Bedriacum  against  the  Vitellians. 
He   bore   the   nickname   in   his 
youth    of    Beccus    (beak    of    a 
cock,   yallus)  ;     and    Suetonius 
(Vit.  28)  mentions  the  prophecy 
that    Vitellius    would    fall    into 
the    hands     Gallicani    hominis. 
He  perhaps  gave  Martial  a  toga 
(x.   Ixxiii.  2),  and   he   admired 
his    poetry,    ix.    xcix.    1.      M. 
calls    him    Tolosae    gloria,   ix. 
xcix.  3  ;    and  in  a  fine  epigram 
congratulates  him  on  his  well- 
spent   life,    x.    xxiii. ;     and  "in 
another  praises  his  portrait  as  a 
youth,   x.   xxxii.     But   Tacitus 
gives  a  different  account  of  his 
character.  "Though  an  offender 
against  the  laws,  and  condemned 
for  forgery  in  the  time  of  Nero, 
amongst  the  other  evils  of  war, 
he  had  recovered  his  place   in 
the  order  of  senators.     Though 
he  had  been  appointed  by  Galba 
to  the  command  of  the  seventh 
legion,  he  was  believed  to  have 
written  to  Otho,  offering  himself 
as    an    adherent   to    his    party. 
When  the  fortunes  of  Vitellius 
were  tottering  he  attached  him- 
self to  the  party  of  Vespasian, 
and  brought  to  it  a 'great  acces- 
sion    of     strength.       He     was 


54° 


INDEX    OF    PROPER    NAMES 


energetic  in  action,  ready  of 
tongue,  a  master  of  the  art  of 
sowing  the  seeds  of  suspicion 
against  other  men,  influential  in 
discords  ami  seditions,  a  plun- 
derer, a  briber,  in  peace  most 
vile,  in  war  not  to  be  despised," 
Hist.  ii.  86.  "  He  had  a  ready 
audacity,"  Ann.  xiv.  40 ;  and 
"  glibness  of  speech,  and  skill 
and  influence  in  soothing  the 
common  herd,"  Fist.  iii.  10.  "  He 
was  of  an  arrogance  impatient 
of  an  equal,  much  more  of  a 
superior,"  Hist.  iv.  80  ;  "  success 
in  the  case  of  such  a  character 
laid  bare  his  avarice,  his  inso- 
lence, and  his  other  hidden 
vices,"  Hist.  iii.  49 

Prisons,  Terentiuz,  a  fellow-country- 
man of  Martial,  to  whom  he 
dedicates,  on  Priscus'  return  to 
Spain,  the  twelfth  book.  In 
xn.  Ixii.  he  addresses  Saturn  on 
the  same  subject.  Martial  calls 
him  (xn.  iv.)  his  Maecenas.  In 
vin.  xlv.  he  celebrates  Priscus's 
return  from  Sicily ;  and  in 
another  epigram  (xii.  xiv.)  warns 
him  against  the  danger  of  too 
reckless  hunting 

Proculus,  G.  Julius,  a  friend  of 
Martial,  to  whom  he  sends 
(i.  Ixx.)  his  flrst  book,  and  whose 
recovery  from  illness  he  com- 
memorates, xi.  xxxvi. 

Pudens,  Aulus,  of  Sassina  in 
Urnbria,  a  friend  of  Martial,  and 
a  centurion.  He  served  in 
Pannonia.  Martial  celebrates 
his  marriage  with  Claudm,  iv. 
xiii. ;  and  prays  (vi.  Iviii.  10) 
that  he  may  return  from  bis 
campaigns  with  primipilar  rank 
and  the  rank  of  a  knight.  It 
may  be  inferred  from  i.  xxxi.  3, 
as  compared  with  v.  xlviii.  1, 
that  he  attained  the  former 
honour  at  least 


Quintiamis,  some  rich  friend  of  M. 
(v.  xviii.  9)  to  whom  M.  says 
that,  being  poor,  he  will  only 
send  his  books.  In  I.  Iii.  M. 


appeals     to     him     against     a 
plagiarist 

Quintilianus,  M.  Fabius,  was  born 
at  Calagurris  (Calahorra)  in 
Spain.  He  was  the  most  cele- 
brated of  Roman  rhetoricians. 
Educated  at  Rome,  he  returned 
to  Spain,  and  came  back  with 
(Tulba  in  68.  He  practised  at 
the  Bar,  but  is  chiefly  known  as 
a  teacher  of  eloquence,  the 
younger  Pliny  (Ep.  ii.  14 ; 
vi.  6)  being  one  of  his  pupils. 
He  held  the  chair  of  rhetoric 
founded  by  Vespasian  ;  and 
was  granted  by  Domitian  the 
insignia  of  a  consul,  to  which 
Juvenal  (vii.  197)  may  per- 
haps sarcastically  allude.  After 
twenty  years'  tenure  of  the  chair 
he  retired  about  89  A.D.,  and  in 
two  years  had  completed  the 
work  for  which  he  is  principally 
known,  the  Institutiones  Oratoriae 
in  twelve  books.  He  advised 
Martial  to  take  up  a  profession, 
II.  xc. 


Rabirius,  the  architect  of  Do- 
mitian's  palace,  VII.  Ivi.  Martial 
has  an  epigram  on  the  death  of 
R.'s  parents,  and  praises  his 
filial  piety,  x.  Ixxi. 

Regulus,  M.  Aquillius,  a  celebrated 
advocate.  He  was  a  delator 
under  Nero  and  Domitian,  and 
attained  great  wealth.  He  is 
disliked  by  Pliny,  but  is  flattered 
by  Martial,  who  praises  his 
character  (I.  cxi.).  Pliny  ridicules 
even  his  oratorical  power  (Ep. 
iv.  7),  and  his  extravagant 
grief  for  the  death  of  his  son, 
"  a  boy  of  a  quick  but  inscrutable 
disposition,  who  yet  might  have 
followed  the  right,  had  he  not 
been  like  his  father."  A';>.  iv.  2. 
M.  congratulates  him  in  two 
epigrams  (i.  xii.  and  Ixxxii.)  on 
his  escape  from  death.  Pliny 
describes  him  as  "rich,  factious, 
courted  by  many,  feared  by 
more ;  and  fear  is  generally 
stronger  than  love,"  Ep.  i.  5 ; 

541 


INDEX    OF    PROPER   NAMES 


and  remarks  his  chastened  atti- 
tude after  Domitian's  death, 
"  under  whom  he  had  committed 
no  smaller  infamies  than  under 
Nero,  but  more  covert  ones,"  ibid. 
Pliny  also  (Ep.  ii.  20)  tells  a 
story  of  his  legacy-hunting  even 
in  the  case  of  his  enemy's  wife 

Rufus,  Camonius,  of  Bononia,  a 
friend  of  M.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  20  in  Cappadocia, 
vi.  Ixxxv.  M.  alludes  in  two 
epigrams  (ix.  Ixxiv.  and  Ixxvi.) 
to  his  portrait  as  a  child,  and 
writes  an  epigram  (vi.  Ixxxv.)  on 
his  death 

Rufus,  Canius,  of  Gades,  a  poet 
(I.  Ixi.  9)  and  friend  of  Martial, 
who  alludes  (I.  Ixix. ;  in.  xx.) 
to  his  geniality,  and  to  his 
versatility  as  an  author.  He 
married  the  accomplished  Theo- 
phila,  on  whom  M.  (vu.  Ixix.) 
writes  an  epigram 

Rufus,  Instantius,  a  friend  of  M., 
to  whom  he  presented  the 
famous  cup  elaborately  described 
in  vm.  «li.  M.  speaks  of  his 
sincerity,  vin.  Ixxiii.  1.  Perhaps 
he  may  be  identified  with  the 
proconsul  of  Baetica  mentioned 
in  xn.  xcviii.  5 

Sabinus,  Caesius,  of  Sassina  in 
Umbria,  where  he  built  a  temple 
to  the  Nymph  of  the  Lake, 
ix.  Iviii.  M.  sends  him  (vu. 
xcvii.  13)  his  seventh  book,  and 
on  another  occasion  a  wreath  of 
roses,  ix.  Ix. 

Scorpug,  a  -famous  charioteer  on 
whose  death  Martial  writes  two 
epitaphs,  x.  1.  and  liii. ;  and 
of  whose  immense  earnings  he 
speaks,  iv.  Ixvii. ;  x.  Ixxiv. ; 
and  gilt  statue,  v.  xxv. 

Seneca,  L.  Anwus,  the  Stoic 
philosopher,  was  born  at  Corduba 
in  Spain,  I.  Ixi.  7.  He  was  the 
brother  of  Annaeus  Mela,  the 
geographer,  and  of  Gallic  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  uncle  of 
Lucan the  poet.  He  was  banished 
by  the  Emperor  Claudius,  but 
was  afterwards  tutor  to  Nero, 

542 


whose  quinquennium,  or  first 
five  years  of  good  government, 
was  attributed  to  his  teaching. 
He,  however,  stained  his  reputa- 
tion by  condoning  Nero's  murder 
of  his  mother  Agrippina.  He 
was  implicated  in  the  conspiracy 
of  Pisq  in  A.D.  65,  and,  together 
with  his  wife,  committed  suicide, 
Tac.  Ann.  xv.  63.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  wealth 

Severus,  a.  critic  to  whom  Martial 
submits  his  poems,  v.  Ixxx. ; 
xi.  Ivii.  As  in  the  last  epigram 
he  is  called  doctus,  he  may  have 
been  himself  a  poet.  In  H.  vi. 
M.  chaffs  him  for  his  hurried 
reading  of  Martial's  slender 
volume,  although  he  professed 
to  be  a  great  admirer  of  his 
poems.  There  is  also  an  epigram 
(vu.  xxxviii.)  on  two  hideous 
slaves  of  his ;  and  Martial 
frequently  addresses  him.  In 
VII.  xlix.  he  sends  him  a  gift  of 
eggs  and  apples  from  the  country. 
It  is  not  certain  whether  this 
Severus  is  identical  with  the 
younger  son  of  Silius,  for  whom 
the  poet  (vin.  Ixvi.)  solicits  the 
consulship ;  and  whose  death 
(IX.  Ixxxvi.)  he  laments 

Silius,  C.,  surnamed  Italicus, 
orator,  lawyer,  and  poet,  was 
born  about  A.D.  25.  Pliny  (Ep. 
iii.  7)  givea  an  account  of  his  life. 
He  was  consul  in  68,  the  last  of 
Nero's  consuls,  and  proconsul 
of  Asia,  where  he  served  with 
distinction.  He  lost  his  younger 
son,  for  whom  Martial  solicits 
(vin.  Ixvi.)  the  consulship,  and 
whose  death  he  laments,  ix. 
Ixxxvi. ;  but  left  the  elder  a 
consular.  In  later  life  he  retired 
to  Campania,  where  he  possessed 
many  villas,  including  Cicero's 
house  at  Puteoli  and  Virgil's 
house  at  Naples,  xi.  xlviii.  and 
xlix.  These  villas  were  richly 
furnished  with  books,  statues, 
,  and  busts,  among  which  he 
especially  venerated  that  of 
Virgil,  whose  birthday  he  ktept 
more  religiously  than  his  own, 


. 


INDEX   OF   PROPER   NAMES 


and  whose  tomb  he  regarded  as 
a  temple.  He  committed  suicide 
by  voluntary  starvation  in  his 
seventy-sixth  year  because  of 
an  incurable  cancer.  As  a 
poet  Martial  (vn.  Ixiii.)  calls 
him  immortal,  but  Pliny  says 
that  his  works  showed  more 
scholarly  care  than  genius.  He 
is  known  by  his  Punica,  an  epic 
on  the  second  Punic  war  in 
seventeen  books,  of  which  Prof. 
Mackail  says  :  "  His  Punic  War 
may  fairly  contend  for  the 
distinction  of  being  the  worst 
epic  ever  written  ...  its  author 
the  most  striking  instance  in 
Latin  literature  of  the  incorrigible 
amateur  .  .  .  without  any  in- 
ventive or  constructive  power  of 
his  own.  Silius  copies  with 
tasteless  pedantry  all  the  out- 
worn traditions  of  the  heroic 
epic."  He  is  only  once  referred 
to  in  the  fifth  century ;  then  he 
fell  into  complete  oblivion  till  he 
was  discovered  in  the  fifteenth 

Stella,  L.  Arruntius,  of  Patavium, 
a  patron  and  friend  of  Martial 
and  Statius,  who  dedicates  to 
him  the  first  book  of  the  Silvae. 
Both  Martial  (vi.  xxi.)  and 
Statius  (Silv.  i.  2)  write  epi- 
thalamia  on  Stella's  marriage 
with  Violentilla,  whom  M.  calls 
lanthis,  and  Statius  Asteris. 
Stella  gave  games  to  celebrate 
the  conclusion  of  the  Sarmatian 
war,  viu.  Ixxviii. ;  and  was 
consul  A.D.  101  ;  an  honour  for 
which  M.  (ix.  xlii.)  had  solicited 
Apollo.  Statius  (Silv.  I.  ii.  177) 
also  says  that  he  <was  a  quin- 
decimvir  librorum  sibyllinorum. 
He  was  also  a  poet.  M.  alludes 
to  his  Columba,  a  poem  on  the 
death  of  lanthis'  pet  dove, 
I.  vii.  1 ;  vn.  xiv.  5;  and  writes 
several  epigrams  (e.g.  vi.  xlvii.) 
on  a  spring  in  Stella's  house 

Sulpicia,  a  poetess  of  the  time,  of 
whom  nothing  is  known,  x.  xxxv. 
She  was  the  wife  of  Calenus, 
x.  xxxviii.  She  is  .mentioned  by 
Ausonius  and  by  Sidouius  Apolli- 


naris ;  and  a  satirical  poem  on 
the  expulsion  by  Bomitian  of 
the  philosophers  from  Rome  is 
commonly  attributed  to  her. 
Paley  ascribes  to  her  the  poems 
often  contained  in  the  editions 
of  Tibullus 

Sura,  Licinius,  of  Hispania  Tarra- 
conensis,  held  oltlces  under 
Nerva  and  Trajan,  being  under 
the  latter  three  times  consul. 
Martial  speaks  (vn.  xlvii.  1)  of 
his  learning,  and  (vi.  Ixiv.  13) 
appreciation  of  M.'s  poems,  and  in 
the  first  epigram,  one  of  the  best, 
of  his  unexpected  recovery  from 
severe,  illness.  He  would  seem 
to  have  been  a  natural  philo- 
sopher, for  Pliny  (Ep.  iv.  xxx.) 
consultshimastothe  unexplained 
ebb  and  How  of  a  spring.  On 
his  death  Trajan  gave  him  a 
public  funeral,  and  built  baths 
in  his  memory.  He  is  perhaps 
the  Sura  of  I.  xlix.  40,  but  this 
Sura  may  be  Palfiirius  Sura,  who 
was  removed  from  the  Senate 
by  Vespasian,  became  a  Stoic, 
was  a  delator  under  Domitian, 
and  was  after  his  death  con- 
demned by  the  Senate,  Schol.  in 
Juv.  iv.  53 


Tullus,  Cn.  Domitius  Curvius,  the 
brother  of  Lucanus  (q.v.).  He 
held  high  office  under  Vespasian 
and  Domitian.  He  was  a  rich  man 
like  his  brother,  and  Pliny  (Ep. 
viii.  18)  speaks  of  the  disappoint- 
ment of  the  eaptatores  when  his 
will  was  opened,  and  says  of  the 
two  brothers  that  it  seemed 
ordained  by  fate  that  they 
should  be  enriched  even  against 
the  will  of  the  donors.  He  had 
played  upon  the  expectations 
of  legacy-hunters  (se  captandum 
praebuitset)  during  his  life,  and 
hy  liis  will  left  his  property  to 
his  relations,  thus  showing  him- 
self longe  melior  morte  quain 
vita.  He  was  a  cripple,  im.-ibli1 
even  to  brush  his  own  trrtli. 
complaining  that  "he  daily  licked 

543 


INDEX   OF   PROPER   NAMES 


the  fingers  of  his  slaves,"  Pliny, 
I.e.  Pliny  speaks  of  the  devo- 
tion of  his  wife 


Vestinus,  perhaps  the  Lucius  V. 
described  by  Tacitus  (Hist,  iv. 
53)  as  equestris  ordinis  virum,  sed 
auctoritate  famaque  inter  -pro- 
ceres,  to  whom  Vespasian 
gave  the  duty  of  restoring  the 
Capitol ;  and  perhaps  also  the 
son  of  the  consul  Vestinus  who, 
being  marked  for  death  by  Nero, 
committed  suicide  by  opening 
his  veins  in  a  bath  (Tac.  Ann.  xv. 
69).  Martial  praises  him  (iv. 
Ixxiii.)  for  dividing  his  property 
amongst  his  friends  when  he 
was  on  the  point  of  death.  Paley 
suggests  that  his  motive  was  to 
avoid  making  the  Emperor  his 
heir,  or  joint  heir ;  and  cites 
the  example  of  Agricola  (Tac. 
Ag.  43),  who  had  made  Domitian 
joint  heir  with  his  own  wife  and 
daughter 


Zoilus,  an  anonymous  person 
frequently  attacked  by  M.,  and 
to  whom  is  attributed  every  vice. 
He  had  been  a  slave  (in.  xxix.) 
and  a  runaway  one  (xi.  liv.),  and 
had  afterwards  become  a  knight 
(in.  xxix.)  It  is  not  improb- 
able that  M.  borrowed  the  name 
from  the  original  Zoilus,  a 
grammarian  of  Amphipolis  who 
flourished  in  the  time  of  Philip  of 
Macedon  and  AlexandertheGreat. 
and  whose  name,  because  of  his 
attacks  on  Homer,  Plato,  and 
others,  became  one  synonymous 
with  malignant  criticism,  Ov. 
Rem.  ^Am.  366.  He  was  called 
Kviav  'pifropLKos,  and  Ofiripofidortf, 

and  remains,  in  the  words  of 
Swinburne  (Cont.  of  Shak.  n.) 
"  eternally  alive  (or  in  Brown- 
ing's characteristically  audacious 
phrase) '  immortally  immerded.' " 
Aelian  (V.H.  xi.  10)  reports  a 
remark  of  his  that  he  always 
spoke  evilly  of  men  because  he 
could  not  do  them  evil 


544 


INDEX    OF   FIRST  LINES 


A  latronibus  esse  te  fututam XH.  xxvii 

A  servo  scis  te  genitum  blandeque  fateris i.  l.xxxi 

A  Sinuessanis  conviva  Philostratus  undis XI.  Ixxxii 

Abscisa  servum  quid  flgis,  Pontice,  lingua  ? H.  Ixxxii 

Abstulerat  totam  temerarius  institor  urbem vii.  Ixi 

Accidit  int'andum  nostrae  scelus,  Aule,  puellae     ....  vii.  xiv 

Accipe  belligerae  crudum  thoraca  Minervae vir.  i 

Accola  iam  nostrae  Degte,  Germanice,  ripae v.  iii 

Ad  cenam  invitant  omnes  te,  Phoebe,  cinaedi      ....  ix.  Ixiii 

Ad  cenam  si  me  diversa  vocaret  in  astra ix.  xci 

Ad  lapidem  Torquatus  habet  praetoria  quartum       ...  x.  Ixxix 

Ad  natalicias  dapes  vocabar vn.  Ixxxvi 

Ad  populos  mitti  qui  nuper  ab  urbe  solebas XH.  iii 

Ad  primum  decima  lapidem  quod  venimus  hora  ....  xi.  Ixxix 

Addat  cum  mihi  Caecubum  minister x.  xcviii 

Addere  quid  cessas,  puer,  immortale  Falernum  ?       .      .      .  ix.  xcih 

Addixti,  Labiene,  tres  agellos XII.  xvi 

Addixti  servum  nuinmis  here  mille  ducentis X.  xxxl 

Aedes  emit  A  per,  sed  quas  nee  noctua  vellet XI.  xxxiv 

Aegrptas  uno  decies  aut  saepius  anno  .......  XII.  Ivi 

Aemiliae  gentes  et  Apollineas  Vercellas     ......  x.  xii 

Aemula  Baianis  Altini  litora  villis IV.  xxv 

Aeolidos  Canace  iacet  hoc  tumulata  sepulcro       ....  xi.  xci 

Aera  domi  non  sunt,  superest  hoc,  Regule,  solum     .     .     .  vn.  xvi 

Aera  per  taciturn  delapsa  sedentis  in  ipsos VIII.  xxxii 

Aestivo  serves  ubi  piscem  tempore  quaeris  ? n.  Lxxviii 

Aetherias  aquila  puerum  portante  per  auras I.  vi 

Alcide,  Latio  nunc  agnoscende  Tonanti IX.  Ixv 

Alcides  modo  Vindiceni  rogabam IX.  xliv 

Alcime,  quern  raptum  domino  crescentibus  annis      ...  I.  Ixxxviii 

Allatres  licet  usque  nos  et  usque V.  Ix 

Alphius  ante  fuit,  coepit  nunc  Olphius  esse IX.  xcv 

Amisit  pater  unicum  Salanus VI.  Ixli 

Amissum  non  Het  cum  sola  est  Gellia  patrem I.  xxxiii 

Amphitheatrales  inter  nutrita  magistros XI.  Ixix 

Amphora  vigessi,  modius  datur  aere  quaterno      ....  xii.  Ixxvi 

An  possim  vetulam  quaeris,  Matronia  :  possum  ....  in.  xxxii 

Ancillariolum  tua  te  vocat  uxor,  et  ipsa xii.  Iviii 

A.nnorum  nitidique  sator  pulcherrime  mundi x.  xxviii 

Antiqui  rex  magne  poli  mundique  prioris Xii.  Ixii 

Antoni  Phario  nil  obiecture  Pothino 

Anxuris  aequorei  placidos,  Frontine,  recessus       .... 

545 


MART.  II. 


N    N 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 


Apollinarem  cqnyeni  meum,  Scazon vn.  xxvi 

Appia,  quam  simili  venerandus  in  Hercule  Caesar     ...  IX.  ci 

Archetypis  vetuli  nihil  est  odiosius  Eucti vm.  vi 

Archetypum  Myos  argentum  te  dicis  habere vni.  xxxiy 

A  rctoa  de  gente  comam  tibi,  Lesbia,  misi       .....  V.  Ixviii 

Ardea  solstitio  Castranaque  rura  petantur iv.  jx 

Argenti  genus  omne  comparasti iv.  xxxix 

Argenti  libram  mittebas  ;  facta  selibra  est X.  Ivii 

Argenti  libras  Marius  tibi  quinque  reliquit II.  Ixxyi 

Argiletanas  mavis  habitare  tabernas I.  iii 

Arrectum  quotiens  Manilla  penem X.  Iv 

Arrigis  ad  vetulas,  fastidis,  Basse,  puellas in.  Ixxvi 

Artemidorus  habet.puerum,  sed  vendidit  agrum                   .  '  ix.  xxi 

Artibus  his  semper  cenam,  Philomuse,  mereris     ....  ix.  xxxv 

Artis  Phidiacae  toreuma  clarum m.  xxxy 

Aspice  quam  densum  tacitarum  vellus  aquarum  ....  rv.  iii 

Aspice  quam  placidis  insultet  turba  iuvencis v.  xxxi 

Aspicis  huiic  uno  contentum  lumine,  cuius vni.  lix 

Aspicis,  inbelles  temptent  quam  fortia  dammae  ....  iv.  Ixxiv 

Aspicis  incomptis  ilium,  Deciane,  capillis  ......  I.  xxiy 

Aspicis,  ut  parvus  nee  adhuc  trieteride  plena       ....  VI.  xxxviii 

Astra  polumque  dedit,  quamvis  obstante  noverca     ...  v.  Ixv 

Astra  polumque  pia  cepisti  mente,  Rabiri.     ....     .  vn.  Ivi 

Atreus  Caecilius  cucurbitarum XI.  xxxi 

Atria  Pisonum  stabant  cum  stemmate  totp IV.  xj 

Attice,  facundae  renovas  qui  nomina  gentis vii.  xxxii 

Audet  facundo  qui  carmina  mittere  Nervae IX.  xxyi 

Audieris  in  quo,  Flacce,  balneo  plausum IX.  xxxiii 

Auditur  quantum  Massyla  per  avia  murmur vni.  ly 

August!  labor  hie  fuerat  committere  classes Ep.  xxviii 

Augusto  pia  tura  victimasque vm.  Ixyi 

Aureolis  f utui  cum  possit  Galla  duobus ix.  iy 

Auriculam  Mario  graviter  miraris  olere in.  xxviii 

B 

Baetis  olivifera  orinem  redimite  corona xn.  xcviii 

Baiana  nostri  villa,  Basse,  'Faustini m.  Iviii 

Baiano  procul  a  lacu,  monemus iv.  xxx 

Barbara  pjTamidum  sileat  miracula  Memphis      ....  Spect.  i 

Barbatus  rigido  nupsit  Callistratus  Afro xn.  xlii 

Basia  da  nobis,  Diadumene,  pressa.     "  Quot  "  inquis  ?       .    .       vi.  xxxiy 

Basia  das  aliis,  aliis  das,  Postume,  dextram H.  xxi 

Basia  dum  nolo  nisi  quae  luctantia  carpsi V.  xlyi 

Bella,  es,  novimus,  et  puella,  verum  est I.  Ixiy 

Belliger  invictis  quod  Mars  tibi  servit  in  armia     ....  Spect.  vi 

Bellus  homo  et  magnus,  vis  idem  Cotta,  videri    ....  I.  ix 

Bis  Cotta  soleas  perdidisse  se  questus xn.  Ixxxvii 

Bis  quinquagenis  domus  est  tibi  milibus  empta   ....  xn.  Ixyi 

Bis  tibi  triceni  f  uimus,  Mancine,  vocati I.  xliii 

Bis  vicine  Nepos — nam  tu  quoque  proxima  Florae    ...  vi.  xxyii 

Boletos  et  aprum  si  tanquam  vilia  ponis xn.  xlviii 

Bruma  est  et  riget  horridus  December .     .     .      .     .      .     .  vn.  xcy 

Brumae  diebus  feriisque  Satumi xn.  Ixxxi 


546 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 


Caelatus  tibi  cum  sit,  Anuiane vr.  xcii 

Caesaris  alma  dies  et  luce  sacratior  ilia IV.  i 

Caesaris  August!  lascivos,  livide,  versus- xi.  xx 

Callidus  effracta  nummos  fur  auferet  area v.  xlii 

Callidus  imposuit  nuper  mihi  copo  Ravennae •  in.  Ivii 

Calliodorus  habet  censum — quis  nescit  ? — equestrem      .     .          v.  xxxviii 

Campis  dives  Apollo  sic  Myrinis ix.  xlii 

Cana  est  barba  tibi,  nigra  est  coma  :  tinguere  barbam   .     .          iv.  xxxvi 

Candidius  nihil  est  te,  Caeciliane  :  notavi n.  Ixxi 

Cantasti  male,  dum  fututa  es,  Aegle I.  xciv 

Capena  grandi  porta  qua  pluit  gutta in.  xlvii 

Cappadocum  saevis  Antistius  occidit  oris ix.  xxx 

Capto  tuam,  pudet  heu,  sed  capto,  Maxime,  cenam  ...  n.  xviii 

Carmina  nulla  probas  molli  quae  limite  currunt  .      .     .  xi.  xc 

Carmina  Paulus  emit,  recitat  sua  carmina  Paulus     ...  n.  xx 

Carpere  causidicus  fertur  mea  carmina  :  quis  sit       ...  v.  xxxiji 

Casta  nee  antiquis  cedens  Laevina  Sabinis I.  Ixii 

Casta  suo  gladium  cum  traderet  Arria  Paeto I.  xiii 

Castora  dePolluce  Gabinia  fecit  Achillan vn.  Ivii 

Cedere  de  nostris  nulli  te  dicis  amicis x.  xiv 

Cedere  maiori  virtutis  fama  secunda  est Sptct.  xxxii 

Cenabis  belle,  lull  Cerialis,  apud  me xi.  Hi 

Genes,  Canthare,  cum  foris  libenter ix.  x 

Ceno  domi  quotiens,  nisi  te,  Charopine,  vocavi    ....  v.  I 

Censor  maxime  principumque  princeps  • 

Centenis  quod  emis  pueros  et  saepe  ducenis 

Centum  Coranus  et  ducenta  Mancinus iv.  xxxvii 

Centum  miselli  iam  valete  quadrantes m.  vii 

Cernere  Parrhasios  dum  te  luvat,  Aule,  triones    .... 

Cessatis,  pueri,  nihilque  nostis 

Chirurgus  fuerat,  nunc  est  vispillo  Diaulus 

Cinctum  togatis  post  et  ante  Saufeium 

Cinnam,  Cinname,  te  iubes  yocari  .... 

Circumlata  diu  mensis  scriblita  secundis 

Clarus  fronde  lovis,  Romani  fama  cothurni 

Claudia  caeruleis  cum  sit  Rulina  Britannis 

Claudia,  Rufe,  meo  nubit  Peregrina  Pudenti JV.  xli 

Clinicus  Herodes  trullam  subduxerat  aegro     .... 
Coccina  famosae  donas  et  ianthina  moechae  .      .  .     . 

Coepit,  Maxime,  Pana  qui  solebat 

Cogis  me  calamo  manuque  nostra 

Cogit  me  Titus  actitare  causas  .     . 

Colchida  quid  scribis,  quid  scribis,  amice,  Thyesten  I     .     . 

Commendare  meas,  Instanti  Rufe,  Camenas 

Commendare  tuum  dum  vis  mihi  carmine  munus      .      .     . 

Commendo  tibi,  Quintiane,  nostros 

Communis  tibi  cum  viro,  Magulla  . 

Comoedi  tres  sunt,  sed  amat  tua  Paula,  Luperce.     .     .      . 
Concita  veloces  fugeret  cum  damma  Molossos      .... 
Condita  cum  tibi  sit  iam  sexagesima  measis    .     .     .     .     -          i*. 
Conditus  hie  ego  sum  Bassi  dolor,  L'rbicus  infana      .     .     . 

Coniugis  audisset  fatum  cum  Porcia  Bruti '•  *| 

Consilium  formae  speculum  dulcesque  capilloa     .... 

547 

N    N   2 


INDEX    OF   FIRST   LINES 


Constituit,  Philomuse,  pater  tibi  milia  bina III.  x 

Consule  te  Bruto  quod  iuras,  Lesbia,  natam x.  xxxix 

Consumpta  est  uno  si  lemmate  pagina,  transis     ....  x.  lix 

Contigeris  nostros,  Caesar,  si  forte  libellos I.  iv 

Contigeris  regina  raeos  si  Polla  libellos x.  Ixiv 

Contigit  Ausoniae  procerum  mitissimus  aulae       ....  xn.  vi 

Continuis  vexata  madet  vindemia  nirabis i.  Ivi 

Contulit  ad  saturas  ingentia  pectora  Turnus         ....  xi.  x 

Conviva  quisquis  Zoili  potest  esse in.  Ixxxii 

Coponem  laniumque  balneumque II.  xlviii 

Cosconi,  qui  longa  putas  epigrammata  nostra       ....  II.  Ixxvii 

Cosmicos  esse  tibi,  Semprpni  Tucca,  videris vn.  xli 

Cotile.  bellus  homo  es  :  dicunt  hoc,  Cotile,  multi       .      .      .  in.  Ixiii 

Cras  te  victurum,  eras  dicis,  Postume,  semper     ....  v.  Iviii 

Credi  virgine  castior  pudica "...  iv.  yi 

Credis  ob  haec  me,  Pastor,  opes  fortasse  rogare  ....  ix.  xxii 

Creta  dedit  magnum,  maius_  dedit  Africa  nomen  ....  u.  ii 

Crine  ruber,  niger  ore,  brevis  pede,  lumine  laesus      .           .  xn.  liv 

Crinitae  Line  paedagoge  turbae xn.  xlix 

Crispulus  iste  quis  est,  uxori  semper  adhaeret      ....  v.  Ixi 

Cui  legisse  satis  non  est  epigrammata  centum      ....  i.  exviii 

Cui  tradas,  Lupe,  fllium  magistro v.  lyi 

Cuius  vis  fieri,  libelle,  munus in.  ii 

Cum  cathedra] icios  portet  tibi  raeda  ministros     ....  x.  xiii 

Cum  clamant  omnes,  loqueris  tune,  Naevole,  solus    ...  I.  xcvii 

Cum  coleret  puros  pauper  Telesuius  amicos vi.  1 

Cum  comes  Arctois  haereret  Caesaris  armis *        ix.  xxxi 

Cum  dare  non  possim  quod  poscLs,  Galla,  rogantem  .      . '    .  in.  liv 

Cum  data  sint  equiti  bis  quina  nomismata,  quare      ...  I.  xi 

Cum  depilates,  Chreste,  coleos  portes ix.  xxvii 

Cum  dicis  "  Propero,  fac  si  facis,"  Hedyle,  languet  ...  I.  xlvi 

Cum  dixi  ficus,  rides  quasi  barbara  verba I.  Ixy 

Cum  dubitaret  adhuc  belli  civilis  Enyo vi.  xxxii 

Cum  duo  venissent  ad  Phyllida  mane  fututum     ....  x.  Ixxxi 

Cum  facias  versus  uulla  non  luce  ducenos vin.  xx 

Cum  faciem  laudo,  cum  miror  crura  manusque    ....  in.  Ii 

Cum  futuis,  Polycharme,  soles  in  fine  cacare ix.  Ixix 

Cum  gravis  extremas  Vestinus  duceret  horas iv.  Ixxiii 

Cum  luvenale  meo  quae  me  committere  temptas.     .      .      .  vii.  xxiy 

Cum  me  captares,  mittebas  munera  nobis ix.  Ixxxviii 

Cum  me  velle  vides  tentumque,  Telesphore,  sentis    ...  xi.  Iviii 

Cum  mensas  habeat  fere  trecentas vn.  xlviii 

Cum  mittis  turdumve  mihi  quadramve  placentae      ...  vi.  Ixxv 

Cum  peteret  dulces  audax  Leandros  aniores Sped,  xxv  b 

Cum  peteret  pars  haec  Myrinum,  pars  ilia  Triumphuni  .      .  Spect.  xx 

Cum  peteret  patriae  missicius  arva  Ravennae      ....  in.  xci 

Cum  peteret  regem,  decepta  satellite  dextra I.  xxi 

Cum  peteret  seram  media  iam  nocte  matellam     ....  vi.  Ixxxix 

Cum  placeat  Phileros  tota  tibi  dote  redemptus    ....  n.  xxxiv 

Cum  pluvias  madidumque  lovem  perferre  negaret    .      .      .  vn.  xxxyi 

Cum  potes  amethystinqs  trientes x.  xlix 

Cum  fogo  te  nummos  sine  pignore,  "  non  habeo,"  inquis     .  xn.  xxy 

Cum  Saxetani  ponatur  cauda  lacerti vn.  Ixxviii 

Cum  sene  communem  vexat  spado  Dindymus  Aeglen     .      .  xi.  Ixxxi 

Cum  sexaginta  numeret  Cascellius  annos vn.  ix 


548 


INDEX   OF  FIRST  LINES 

Cum  sint  crura  tibi,  simulent  quae  cornua  lunae  H  xxxv 

Cum  sis  ipsa  domi  mediaque  ornere  Subura    .  IX  \xxvii 

Cum  sis  nee  rigida  Fabiorum  gente  creatus     .  Vi  Ixiv 

Cum  sis  tarn  pauper,  quam  nee  miserabilis  Iros   .  vi  Ixxvii 

Cum  sitis  similes  paresque  vita       .     .     .  viii  xxxv 

Cum  te  municipem  Corinthiorum X  ixv 

Cum  te  non  nossem,  dominum  regemque  vocabam    !  I '  cxii 

Cum  tibi  non  Ephesos  nee  sit  Rhodes  aut  Mytilene  .      .  X  ixviii 

Cum  tibi  non  essent  sex  milia,  Caeciliane iv  li 

Cum  tibi  nota  tui  sit  vita  fldesque  mariti  .     .     .  xir  xcvi 

Cum  tibi  sit  facies,  de  qua  nee  femina  possit  ...      .     .  vii  xviii 

Cum  tibi  sit  sophiae  par  fama  et  cura  laborum    ...  'l.  cxi 

Cum  tibi  tarn  crassae  sint,  Artemidore,  lacernae  ....  VHI  Iviii 

Cum  tibi  trecenti  consules,  Vetustilla         in.  xciii 

Cum  tibi  vernarent  dubia  lanugine  malae n.  1x1 

Cum  traheret  Prisons,  traheret  certamina  Verus  ....  Spect.  xxix 

Cum  tu,  laurigeris  annum  qui  fascibus  intras       ....  X.  x 

Cum  tua  non  edas,  carpis  mea  carmina,  Laeli      ....  I.  xci 

Cum  tua  sacrilegos  contra,  Norbane,  furores IX.  Ixxxiv 

Cum  vocer  ad  cenam  non  iam  venalis  ut  ante      ....  in.  Ix 

Cum  voeo  te. dominum,  noli  tibi,  Cinna,  placere  ....  v.  Ivii 

Cunarum  fueras  motor,  Charideme,  mearum  ....  XI.  xxxix 

Cur  here  quod  dederas,  hodie,  puer  Hylle,  negasti     ...  iv.  vil 

Cur  non  basio  te,  Philaeni  ?  calva  es H.  xxxiii 

Cur  non  mitto  meos  tibi,  Pontiliane,  libellos  ?      .     .      .     .  vn.  iii 

Cur  saepe  sicci  parva  rura  Nomenti xn.  Ivii 

Cur  spleniato  saepe  prodeam  mento x.  xxii 

Cur  tantum  eunuchos  habeat  tua  Caelia,  quaeris .     .     .      .  VI.  Ixvii 

Cur  tristiprem  cernimus  Saleianum n.  Ixv 

Curandum  penem  commisit  Baccara  Raetus XI.  Ixxiv 

Cursorem  sexta  tibi,  Ilufe,  remisimus  hora ill.  c 

Custodes  das,  Folia,  viro,  non  accipis  ipsa x.  Ixix 

Cyllones  caelique  decus,  facunde  minister VII.  Ixxiv 

D 

Da  veniam  subitis  :  non  displicuisse  meretur       ....  Spect.  xxxi 

Daedale,  Lucano  cum  sic  lacereris  ab  urso Spect.  viii 

Dante  tibi  turba  querulos,  Auguste,  libellos VHI.  Ixxxii 

Dantem  vina  tuum  quotiens  aspeximus  Hylluni  ....  a.  xxv 

Daphnonas,  platanonas  et  aerios  pityonas      .....  xll.  1 

Das  gladiatores,  sutorum  regule,  cerdo HI.  xvl 

Das  nunquam,  semper  promittis,  Galla,  roganti  ....  n.  xxv 

Das  Parthis,  das  Germanis,  das,  Caelia,  Dacis      ....  vil.  xxx 

Dat  Baiana  mihi  quadrantes  sportula  centum      ....  I.  Hx 

De  cathedra  quotiens  surgis  (lain  saepe  notavi)               .  -  .  XI.  xcix 

De  nostro  facunde  tibi  luvenalis  agello vn.  xcl 

De  nullo  loqueris,  nulli  maledicis,  Apici III.  Ixxx 

De  praetoricia  folium  inihi,  Paule,  corona VHI.  xxxiii 

Declamas  belle,  causas  agis,  Attice,  belle n.  vii 

Declamas  in  febre,  Maron  :  hanc  esse  phrenesin  .... 

Dederas  Apici,  bis  trecenties  ventri ni.  xxii 

Delicias,  Caesar,  lususque  iocosque  leonum I.  xiy 

Democritos,  Zenonas  inexplicitosque  Platonas     .... 

549 


INDEX   OF    FIRST    LINES 


Denaris  tribus  invitas  et  mane  togatum ix.  c 

Dentibus  antiquas  solitus  producere  pelles ix.  Ixxiii 

Dentibus  atque  comis,  nee  te  pudet,  uteris  emptis    .      .      .  XII.  xxiii 

Deprensum  in  puerp  tetricis  me  vocibus,  uxor     ....  xi.  xliii 

Derisor  Fabianus  hirnearum XII.  Ixxxiii 

Di  tibi  dent  et  tu,  Caesar,  quaecunque  mereris    ....  vi.  Ixxxviii 

Di  tibi  dent  quidquid;  Caesar  Traiane,  mereris    ....  x.  xxxiv 

Die  mini,  quern  portas,  volucrum  regina  ?  "  Tonantem  "    .  v.  Iv 

Die  mini,  quis  furor  est  ?  turba  spectante  vocata      ...  I.  xx 

Die,  Musa,  quid  agat  Canius  meus  Eufus ur.  xx 

Die,  toga,  facundi  gratum  mihi  munus  amici       .     ...  vni.  xxviii 

Die  verum  mihi,  Marce,  die  amabp       ....,.«  vni.  Ixxyi 

Dicere  de  Libycis  reduci  tibi  gentibus,  Afer ix.  vii 

Dicis  amore  tui  bellas  ardere  puellas n.  Ixxxvii 

Dicis  formosam,  dicis  te,  Bassa,  puellam v.  xlv 

Dicit  se  vetulam,  cum  sit  Caerellia  pupa   ......  iv.  xx 

Difficilis  facilis,  iucundus  acerbus  es  idem xn.  xlvii 

Digna  tuo  eur  sis  indignaque  nomine,  dicara ill.  xxxiv 

Dimidium  donare  Lino  quam  credere  totum I.  Ixxv 

Discursus  varios  yagumque  mane VII.  xxxix 

Disticha  qui  scribit,  puto,  vult  brevitate  placere       .      .      .  vm.  xxix 

Dives  eras  quondam  :  sed  tune  paedico  fuisti       ....  xi.  Ixxxvii 

Dixerat  astrologus  periturum  te  cito,  Munna       ....  ix.  Ixxxii 

Dixerat  "  o  mores  I  o  tempora  |  "     Tullius  olim        ...  ix.  Ixx 

Do  tibi  naumachiam,  tu  das  epigrammata  nobis       ...  I.  y 

Doctorum  Licini  celeberrime  Sura  virorum vn.  xlvii 

Donasse  amicum  tibi  ducenta,  Mancine iv.  Ixi 

Donasti,  Lupe,  rus  sub  urbe  nobis xi.  xviii 

Donasti  tenero,  Chloe,  Luperco iv.  xxviii 

Donayi  tibi  multa,  quae  rogasti xn.  Ixxix 

Dormis  cum  pueris  rn'ituniatLs in.  Ixxiii 

Dotatae  uxori  cor  harundine  ftxit  acuta x.  xy 

Drauci  Natta  sui  vocat  pipinnam    ....'....  xi.  Ixxii 

Ducit  ad  auriferas  quod  me  Salo  Celtiber  oras     ....  X.  xx 

Dulce  decus  scaenae,  ludorum  fama,  Latinus       ....  ix.  xxviii 

Dulcia  cum  tantum  kcribas  epigrammata  semper       .     .      .  vn.  xxv 

Dum  donas,  Macer,  anulos  puellis Vin.  y 

Dum  Tanus  hiemes,  Dpmitianus  autumnos ix.  i 

Dum  levis  arsura  struitur  Libitina  papyro x.  xcyii 

Dum  mea  Caecilio  formatur  imago  Secundo vn.  Ixxxiv 

Dum  modo  causidicum,  dum  te  modo  rhetora  flngis       .      .  n.  Ixiy 

Dum  nimium  vano  tumefactus  nomine  gaudes     ....  IV.  xi 

Dum  non  vis  pisces,  dum  nqn  vis  carpere  pullos  ....  III.  xiii 

Dum  nos  blanda  tenent  lascivi  stagna  Lucrini     ....  iv.  Ivii 

Dum  nova  Pannonici  numeratur  gloria  belli  .      .      .      .•   .  vui.  xv 

Dum  noyus  est  nee  adhuc  rasa  mihi  fronte  libellus    ...  iv.  x 

Dum  petit  a  Baulis  mater  Caerellia  Baias                        .    ^  IV.  Ixiii 

Dum  Phaethontaa  formica  vagatur  in  umbra vi.  xy 

Dum  proayos  atavosque  refers  et  nomina  magna      ...  v.  xvii 

Dum  repetit  sera  conductos  nocte  penates Vin.  Ixxv 

Dum  sibi  redire  de  Patrensibus  fundis v.  xxxv 

Dum  ta  prosequpr  et  domum  reduco    .           XI.  xxjy 

Dum  tibi  felices  indulgent,  Castrice,  Baiae vi.  xliii 

Dum  tibi  Niliacus  portat  crystalla  cataplus xn.  Ixxiy 

Dum  Tiburtinis  albescere  solibus  audit vii.  xiii 

55° 


INDEX  OF   FIRST    LINES 


Dum  tu  forsitan  inquietus  erras Xn.  XYJJJ 

Dum  tu  lenta  nimis  diuque  quaeris jv'  xxiii 

Duxerat  esuriens  locupletem  pauper  anumque     ....  ix'.  ixxx 

E 

Ecquid  Hyperboreis  ad  nos  conyersus  ab  oris      ....  vir.  vi 

Ede  tuos  tandem  popujo,  Faustina,  libellos I.  xxv 

Kdere  lascivos  ad  Baetica  crusmata  gestua vi.  Jxxi 

Edietum  domini  deique  nostri v.  viii 

Edita  ne  brevibus  pereat  mini  cura  libellis I.  xlv 

Editur  en  sextus  sine  te  mihi,  Bufe  Camoni vi.  Ixxxv 

Eifert  uxores  Fabius,  Chrestilla  maritos vm.  xliii 

Effigiem  tantum  pueri  pictura  Camoni ix.  Ixxiv 

Effugere  in  thermis  et  circa  balnea  non  est XII.  Ixxxii 

Effugere  non  est,  Flacce,  basiatores xi.  xcviii 

Egi,  Sexte,  tuam,  pactus  duo  milia,  causam vm.  xvii 

Egisti  vitam  semper,  Line,  municipalem iv.  Ixvl 

Elysio  redeat  si  forte  remissus  ab  agro x.  cl 

Emi  seu  puerum  tpgamve  pexam II.  xliv 

Emit  lacernas  milibus  decem  Bassus vm.  x 

Empta  domus  fuerat  tibi,  Tongiliane,  ducentis    ....  m.  lil 

Encaustus  Phaethon  tabula  tibi  pictus  in  hac  est      ...  iv.  xlvii 

Epigramma  nostrum  cum  Fabulla  legisset Yv.  Ixxxi 

Erras  meorum  fur  avare  librorum I.  Ixvi 

Esquiliis  domus  est,  domus  est  tibi  colle  Dianae  ....  vn.  Ixxiii 

Esse  negas  coctum  leporem  poscisque  flagella      ....  in.  xciv 

Esse  nihil  dicis  quidquid  petis,  improbe  Cinna     ....  HI.  Ixi 

Esse  quid  hoc  dicam,  quod  olent  tua  basia  myrrham      .     .  II.  xii 

Esse  quid  hoc  dicam,  vivis  quod  fama  negatur    ....  v.  x 

Esse  tibi  videor  saevus  nimiumque  gulosus Till,  xxiii 

Esset,  Castrice,  cum  mali  coloris vu.  iv 

Est  mihi  (sitque  precor  longum  te  praeside,  Caesar)       .      .  ix.  xviii 

Est  tibi  (sitque  precor  multos  crescatque  per  annos)       .     .  i.  cviii 

Et  delator  es  et  calumniator XI.  Ixvi 

Et  dolet  et  queritur,  sibi  non  contingere  frigus    .     .     .     .  vi.  li\ 

Et  iudex  petit  et  petit  patronus II.  xiii 

Et  latet  et  lucet  Phaethontide  condita  gutta IV.  xxxli 

Et  vultu  poteram  tuo  carere in.  liii 

Etrusci  nisi  thermulis  lavaris vi.  xlii 

Eutrapelns  tonsor  dum  circuit  ora  Luperci vn.  Ixxxiii 

Exigis  a  nobis  operam  sine  fine  togatam in.  xlvi 

Exijiis,  ut  donein  nostros  tibi,  Quinte,  libellos      ....  iv.  Ixxii 

Exigis,  ut  nostros  donem  tibi,  Tucca,  libellos       ....  Til.  Ixxvii 

Explicitum  nobis  usque  ad  sua  corinia  librum      ....  XI.  evil 

Extemporalis  factus  est  meus  rhetor v.  llv 

Exulat  Ausonia  profugus  delator  ab  urbe Sped.  iv.  b 

K 

Fabricio  iunctus  fido  requiescit  Aquinus 

Facere  in  Lyciscam,  1'aulc,  inc  iuli^s  versus 

Facundi  Senecae  pot«ns  ainicus 

551 


INDEX   OF    FIRST   LINES 


Facundos  mihi  de  libidinosis xii.  xliii 

Fama  refert  nostros  te,  Fidentine,  libelloa I.  xxix 

Famae  non  nimium  bonae.  puellam vi.  Jxvi 

Fastorum  genitor  parensque  lanus vm.  ii 

Felicem  fieri  credis  me,  Zoile,  cena II.  xix 

Felices,  quibus  urna  dedit  spectare  coruscum X.  vi 

Femina  praeferri  potuit  tibi  milla,  Lycori VI.  xl 

Ferreus  es,  si  stare  potest  tibi  mentula,  Flacce     ....  xi.  xxvii 

Fertur  habere  meos,  si  vera  est  fama,  libellos       ....  VH.  Ixxxviii 

Festinat  Polytimus  ad  puellas xii.  Ixxv 

Festinata  prior  decimi  mihi  cura  libelli X.  ii 

Festinata  sui  gemeret  quod  fata  Sever! ix.  Ixxxvi 

Festive  credis  te,  Calliodore,  iocari vi.  xliv 

Ficosa  est  ux6r,  flcosus  et  ipse  maritus vn.  Ixxi 

Flavia  gens,  quantum  tibi  tertius  abstulit  heres  ....  xiv.  sub  fin. 

Flectere  te  nolim,  sed  nee  turbare  capillos II.  xxxvi 

Flentibus  Heliadum  ramis  dum  vipera  repit IV.  lix 

Flete  nefas  vestrum,  sed  tpto  flete  Lucrino     .....  vi.  Ixviii 

Florida  per  varies  ut  pingitur  Hybla  colores H.  xlvi 

Foedasti  miserum,  marite,  moechum II.  Ixxxiii 

Foetere  multo  Myrtale  solet  vino    .           v.  iv 

Fons  dominae,  regina  loci  quo  gaudet  lanthis      ....  vu.  1 

Formosa  Phyllis  nocte  cum  mihi  tota xu.  Ixy 

Formosam  faciem  nigro  medicamine  celas in.  iii 

Formosam  Glyceran  amat  Lupercus     .......  xi.  xl 

Formosam  sane,  sed  caecus  dUigit  Asper  .......  viu.  xlix 

Formosissima  quae  fuere  vel  sunt vm.  liii 

Fragmentum  quod  vile  putas  et  uiutile  lignum    ....  vn.  xix 

Frangat  Idumaeas  tristis  Victoria  palmas x.  1 

Frontibus  adversis  molles  concurrere  dammas      ....  iv.  xxxy 

Frustra  Blanditiae  venitis  ad  me X.  Ixxii 

Fugerit  an  Phoebus  mensas  cenamque  Thyestae        .     .      .  m.  xlv 

Funera  post  septem  nupsit  tibi  Galla  vh-orum      ....  IX.  Ixxviii 

Fur  notae  nimium  rapacitatis vi.  Ixxii 

G 

Gains  hanc  lucem  gemma  mihi  lulius  alba xi.  xxxyi 

Galla,  nega  :  satiatur  amor,  nisi  gaudia  torquent      ...  IV.  xxxviii 

Garris  in  aurem  semper  omnibus,  Cinna I.  Ixxxix 

Gellius  aediiicat  semper  :  modo  limma  ponit ix.  xlvi 

Gentibus  in  Libycia  uxor  tua,  Galla,  male  audit  ....  n.  lyi 

Genus,  Aucte,  lucri  divites  habent  Irani XII.  xiii 

Gestari  iunctis  nisi  desinis,  Hedyle,  capris iv.  Iii 

Gratis  qui  dare  vos  iubet,  puellae xu.  ly 

Gratum  est,  quod  Celeri  nostros  legis,  Aucte,  libellos      .      .  vn.  Iii 

Gratus  sic  tibi,  Paule,  sit  December n.  Ixxvi 

H 

Habere  amicam  nolo,  Flacce,  subtilem XI.  c 

Habet  Africanus  milies,  tamen  captat       ......  xn,  x 

552 


INDEX   OF   FIRST  LINES 

Haec  est  ilia  dies,  quae  magni  conscia  partus .     .  vii  xxi 

Haec  est  ilia  meis  multum  cantata  libellis       .      .  ix   xlix 

Haec  est  ilia  tibi  promissa  Theophila,  Cani     ....  vii.'  ixix 

Haec  mihi  quae  colitur  violis  pictura  rosisque      .      .  x   xxxii 

Haec  quae  pulvere  dissipata  multo i.  Ixxxii 

Haec  quae  tota  patet  tegiturque  et  marmore  et  auro  ix.  xx 

Haec  sunt  ilia  mei  quae  cernitis  ora  Camoni ix.  Ixxvi 

Haec  tibi,  non  alia,  est  ad  cenam  causa  vocandi  ...  HI  1 

Haec  tibi,  Palladiae  sen  collibus  uteris  Albae       ....  v!  i 

Haec  tibi  pro  nato  plena  dat  laetus  acerra iv.  xlv 

Haedina  tibi  pelle  contegenti xii.  xlv 

Hanc  tibi,  Fronto  pater,  genetrix  Flaccilla,  puellam       .      .  v.  xxxiv 

Hanc  tibi  Sequanicae  pinguem  textricis  alumnam     .      .      .  iv.  xix 

Hanc  volo,  quae  faoilis,  quae  palliolata  vagatur  ....  ix.  xxxii 

Has  cum  gemina  compede  declicat  catenas in.  xxix 

Have,  mi  Torani,  frater  carissime ix.  praef. 

Herbarum  fueras  indutus,  Basse,  colores v.  xxiii 

Herculis  in  magni  vultus  descendere  Caesar ix.  Ixiv 

Heredem  cum  me  partis  tibi,  Garrice,  quartae     ....  ix.  xlviii 

Heredem  Fabitis  Labienum  ex  asse  reliquit vir.  Ixvi 

Heredem  tibi  me,  Catulle,  dicis xii.  Ixxiii 

Heredes,  nolite  brevem  sepelire  colonum xi.  xiv 

Hermes  Martia  saeculi  voluptas \..\xiv 

Hermogenes  tantus  mapparum,  t  Pontice,  fur  est     .      .      .  xii.  xxix 

Hesterna  factum  narratur,  Postume,  cena 11.  Ixxii 

Hesterna  tibi  nocte  dixeramus i.  xxvii 

Hesterno  foetere  mero  qui  credit  Acerram i.  xxviii 

"  Hexametris  epigramma  facis  "  scio  dicere  Tuccam      .     .  vi.  Ixv 

Hjberna  quamvis  Arctos  et  rudis  Peuce vii.  vii 

Hibernos  peterent  solito  cum  more  recessus v.  Ixvii 

Hie  est  pampineis  viridis  modo  Vesbius  umbris  ....  iv.  xliv 

Hie  est  quern  legis  ille,  quem  requiris I.  i 

Hie  festinata  requiescit  Erotion  umbra x.  Ixi 

Hie  iacet  ille  senex,  Augusta  notus  in  aula vii.  xj 

Hie  quem  videtis  gressibus  vagis  lentum n.  Ivii 

Hie  qui  dura  sedens  porrecto  saxa  leone ix.  xliii 

Hie  qui  libellis  praegravem  gerit  laevam v.  li 

Hie  ubi  Fortunae  ReducLs  fulgentia  late \in.lxv 

Hie  ubi  sidereus  propius  videt  astra  colossus .s'/»'rt.  ii 

Hoc  agere  est  causas,  hoc  dicere,  Cinna,  diserte  ....  vm.  vii 

Hoc,  Fortuna,  tibi  videtur  aequum  ? x.  Ixxvi 

Hoc  iacet  in  tumulo  raptus  puerilibus  annis vi.  Ill 

Hoc  nemus  aeterno  cinerum  sacravit  honori i.  cxvi 

Hoc  nemus,  hi  fontes,  haec.  textilis  umbra  supini       .      .     .  xn.  xxxi 

Hoc  tibi  quidquid  id  est  longinquis  mittit  al>  oris      .      .      .  ill.  i 

Hoplomachus  nunc  es,  fueras  oplitlinlmicii-4  mite'.      .      .      .  vm.  Ixxiv 

Horas  quinque  puer  nondum  tibi  nunt.iat,  et  tu   ....  vm.  l\\  ii 

Hortatur  fieri  quod  te  Lupus,  lirbice,  patrem      .... 

Hos  quoque  commenda  Venuleio,  Itufe,  lil>ellos   ....  IV.  Ix\\ii 

Hos  tibi,  Phoebe,  vovet  totos  a  vertico  crincs       .... 

Hos  tibi  viciuus,  Faustine,  Telesiilionis  lictrtos     ....  I.  cxiv 

Hospes  eras  noatri  semper,  Matho,  Tiburtini 

Hostem  cum  fugeret,  se  Fannius  ipse  peremit      ....  n.  I 

Hue  est  usque  tibi  scriptus,  matrona,  libellus       ....  m.  Ixviii 
Hunc  quem  mensa  tibi,  quem  cena  paravit  amlcum 

553 


INDEX    OF   FIRST   LINES 


Hunc  qnem  saepe  vides  intra  penetralia  nostrae  ....  iv.  liii 

Hunc  qui  femineis  noctesque  diesque  cathedris    .      .      .      .  xii.  xxxviii 

Hystericam  vetulo  se  dlxerat  esse  marito xi.  Ixxi 

I 

I,  felix  rosa,  mollibusque  sertis vn.  Ixxxix 

I  nostro  comes,  i  libelle,  Flavo x.  civ 

I  nunc,  edere  me  iube  libellos II.  vi 

lactat  inaequalem  Matho  me  fecisse  libellum       ....  vn.  xc 

lam  certe  stupido  non  dices,  Paula,  marito xi.  vii 

lam  nisi  per  somnum  non  arrigts  et  tibi,  Maevi    ....  xi.  xlvj 

lam  numerat  placido  felix  Antonius  aevo x.  xxiii 

lam  parce  lasso,  Roma,  gratulatori x.  Ixxiv 

lam  prope  desertos  cineres  et  sancta  Maronis       ....  xi.  xlix 

lam  senior  Ladon  Tiberinae  nauta  carinae X.  Ixxxv 

lam  sex  aut  septem  nupsisti,  Galla,  cinaedis vn.  Iviii 

Tarn  tristis  nncibus  puer  relictis       ........  v.  Ixxxiv 

Ibis  litoreas,  Macer,  Salonas x.  Ixxviii 

Icta  gravi  telo  confossaque  vulnere  mater Spect.  xiii 

Ignotos  mihi  cum  voces  trecentos xi.  xxxv 

Iliaco  similem  puerum,  Faustine,  ministro in.  xxxix 

Ilia  manus  quondam  studiorum  flda  meorum I.  ci 

Ilia  salax  nimium  nee  paucis  nota  puellis f  XI.  xxv 

Ille  ego  sum  Scorpus,  clamosi  gloria  Circi X.  liii 

Ille  sacri  lateris  custos  Martisque  tpgati vi.  Ixxvi 

Improba  Massiliae  quidquid  f  umaria  cogunt  .......  x.  xxxvi 

In  matutina  nuper  spectatus  harena x.  xxv 

In  Nomentanis,  Ovidi,  quod  nascitur  arvis I.  cv 

In  omnibus  Vacerra  quod  conclavibus XI.  Ixxvii 

In  Pompeiano  dormis,  Laevine,  theatro vi.  ix 

In  Saeptis  Mamurra  diu  multumque  vagatus       ....  ix.  lix 

In  Tartesiacis  domus  est  notissima  terris ix.  Ixi 

In  tenebris  luges  amissum,  Galla,  maritum IV.  Iviii 

In  thermis  sumit  lactucas,  ova.  lacertum xii.  xix 

Incideris  quotiens  in  basia  fellatorura  .......  xi.  xcv 

Incustoditis  et  apertis,  Lesbia,  semper       .     .     .  '  .     .      .  i.  xxxiv 

Indignas  premeret  pestis  cum  tabida  fauces i.  Ixxviii 

Indulget  pecori  nimium  dum  pastor  Amyntas      ....  xi.  xii 

Infantem  secum  semper  tua  Bassa,  Fabulle IV.  Ixxxvii 

Infantem  tibi  vir,  tibi,  Galla,  remisit  adulter       ....  x.  xcv 

Infusum  sibi  nuper  a  patrono v.  Ixx 

Ingenium  mihi,  Gaure,  prpbas  sic  esse  pusillum  ....  ix.  1 

Ingenium  studiumque  tibi  moresque  genusque     ....  v.  xxvii 

Ingenuam  malo,  sed  si  tamen  ilia  negetur in.  xxxiii 

Inguina  succinctus  nigra  tibi  servus  aluta.     .     .     .     .     .  vn.  xxxv 

Inscripsit  tumulis  sept«m  scelerata  virorum    .....  ix.  xv 

Insequeris,  fugio  ;  fugis,  insequor  ;  hacc  mihi  mens  eft       .  v.  Ixxxiii 

Inserta  phialae  Mentoris  manu  ducta ni.  xii 

Instanti,  quo  nee  sincerior  alter  babetur vin.  Ixxiii 

Intactas  quare  mittis  mihi,  Polla,  coronas  ? IX.  Ixxxix 

Inter  Caesareae  discrimina  saeva  Dianae  .      .      .     . "    .      .  Spect.  xii 

Inter  tanta  tuae  miracula,  Caesar,  harenae ix.  Ixxxiii 

Interponis  aquam  subinde,  Rufe I.  cvi 

.554 


INDEX    OF   FIRST    LINES 

Intrasti  quotiens  inscriptae  limina  cellae  ...  xi  xlv 

Intres  ampla  licet  torvi  lepus  ora  leonis     ...  i  l\ 

Invasit  medici  Nasica  phreneticus  Eucti    ....  xi  xxviii 

Invia  Sarmaticis  domini  lorica  sagittis '  vn  ii 

Invitas  ad  aprura,  ponis  mihi,  Galilee,  porcum     ....  viri.  xxii 

Invitas  centum  quadrantibus  et  bene  cenas    ....  IT  ixviii 

Invitas  nullum  nisi  cum  quo,  Cotta,  lavaris    ....  i  xxiii 

Invitag  tune  me,  cum  scis,  Nasica,  vocasse     ...  II  Ixxix 

Invitum  cenare  foris  te,  Classice,  dicis j'l  ixiy 

Ipsarum  tribadum  tribas,  Philaeni vii  ixx 

Irasci  nostro  non  debes,  cerdo,  libello in  xcix 

Irasci  tantura  felices  nostis  amici in.  xxxvii 

Iratus  tanquam  populo,  Charideme,  lavaris VI  Ixxxi 

Issa  est  passere  nequior  Catulli I.  cix 

Itur  ad  Herculeas  gelidi  qua  Tiburis  arces I.  xii 

lugera  mercatus  prope  busta  latentis  agelli XII.  Ixxii 

luli  iugera  pauca  Martialis iv.  Ixiv 

lulia  lex  populis  ex  quo,  Faustine,  renata  est       ....  vi.  vii 

Tunctam  Pasiphaen  Dictaeo  credite  tauro Speet.  v 

luno  labor,  Polvclite,  tuus  et  gloria  felix X.  Ixxxix 

luppiter  Idaei  risit  mendacia  busti IX.  xxxiv 

lura  trium  petiit  a  Caesare  discipulorum  ......  X.  Ix 

lurat  capillos  esse,  quos  emit,  suos ........  vi.  xil 

lure  tuo  nostris  maneas  licet,  hospes,  in  hortis     ....  v.  Ixii 

luris  et  aequarum  cultor  sanctissime  legum 'X.  xxxvii 

lus  tibi  natorum  vel  septem,  Zoile,  detur xi.  xii 


Koiva.  <t>i\tav  haec  sunt,  haec  sunt  tua,  Candide, 


H.  xlili 


Laeserat  ingrato  leo  perlidus  ore  magistrum  . 
Laevia  sex  cyathis,  septem  lustlna  bibatur    . 
Lambere  securi  dextram  consueta  magistri     . 
Languebam  :  sed  tu  comitatus  protinus  ad  me    . 
Languida  cum  vetula  tractare  virilla  dextra  . 
Languidior  noster  si  quando  est  Paulus,  Atili 
Lapsa  quod  externis  spirant  opobalsama  truncis 
Lascivam  tota  possedi  nocte  puellam  . 

Lascivos  leporum  cursus  lususque  leonum 
Latonae  venerande  nepos,  qui  mitibns  herbis. 
Laudantem  Selium  cenae  cum  retia  tendlt     .     . 
Laudas  balnea  versibus  trecentis    .     .     . 
Laudat,  aniat,  cantat  nostros  mea  Roma  libellos 
Laudatur  nostro  quidam,  Faustine,  libello      .     . 
Laurigeros  domini,  liber,  intrature  penates     . 
Laxior  hexaphoris  tua  sit  lectica  licebit     . 
Lector  et  auditor  nostros  probat,  Aule,  libellos    . 
Lege  nimis  dura  convivam  scribere  versus 
Leniat  ut  fauces  medicus,  quas  aspera  vexat  . 
Lesbia  se  iurat  gratis  nunquam  esse  fututain 


Speet.  x 

I.  Ixxi 

Spect.  xvlii 

v.  ix 

xi.  xxix 

IX.  l.xxxv 

XI.  Viii 

ix.  Ixvii 

i.  xliv 

ix.  xvii 

n.  xxvii 

ix.  xix 

VI.  Ixl 

v.  xxxvi 

vin.  I 

n.  Ixxxl 

IX.  Ixxxi 

ix.  Ixxxix 

xi.  Ixxxvl 

xi.  Ixli 

555 


INDEX    OF    FIRST   LINES 


Liber,  amicorum  dulcissima  cura  tuorum vm.  Ixxvii 

Liber,  Amyclaea  frontem  vittate  corona ix.  Ixxii 

Liber  homo  es  nimium,  dicis  mihi,  Ceryle,  semper     ...  i.  Ixvii 

Libertus  Melioris  ille  notus vi.  xxviii 

Libras  quattuor  aut  duas  amico xn.  xxxvi 

Lingis,  non  futuis  meam  puellam in.  xcvi 

Lingua  maritus,  moechus  ore  Nanneius xi.  Ixi 

Lintea  ferret  Apro  vatius  cum  vernula  nuper xn.  Ixx 

Lis  mihi  cum  Balbo  est,  tu  Balbum  offendere  non  vis    .      .  n.  xxxii 

Lis  te  bis  decimae  numerantem  frigora  brumae    ....  vn.  Ixv 

Litigat  et  podagra  Diodorus,  Macce,  laborat i.  xcviii 

Littera  facundi  gratum  mihi  pignus  amici x.  Ixxiii 

Litus  beatae  Veneris  aureum  Baias xi.  Ixxx 

Livet  Charinus,  rumpitur,  furit,  plorat viil.  Ixi 

Lomento  rugas  uteri  quod  condere  temptas in.  xlii 

Longior  undecimi  nobis  decimique  libelli xn.  v 

Lotus  nobiscum  est,  hilaris  cenavit  et  idem vi.  Hii 

Luce  propinquorum,  qua  plurima  mittitur  ales    ....  ix.lv 

Luci,  gloria  temporum  tuorum iv.lv 

Ludi  magister,  parce  simplici  turbae -.  x.  Ixii 

Lusistis,  satis  est :  lascivi  nubite  cunni vi.  xlv 

Lusit  Nereldum  docilis  chorus  aequore  toto Sped,  xxvi 

Lusus  erat  sacrae  conubia  fallere  taedae vi.  ii 

Lux  tibi  post  Idus  numeratur  tertia  Maias ill.  vi 

Lydia  tam'laxa  est,  equitis  quam  culus  aheni XI.  xxi 

M 

Magna  licet  totiens  tribuas,  maiora  daturus vm.  liv 

Maiae  Mercurium  creastis  Idus xn.  Ixvii 

Mammas  atque  tatas  habet  Afra,  sed  ipsa  tatarum  .      .      .  -  I."c 

Mane  domi  nisi  te  volui  meruique  videre v.  xxii 

Mane  salutavi  yero  te  nomine  casu -.     .  vi.  Ixxxviii 

Marcelline,  boni  suboles  sincera  parentis vi.  xxv 

Marcia,  non  Rhenus,  salit  hie,  Germane  :  quid  obstas    .     .  xi.  xcvi 

Marcus  amat  nostras  Antonius,  Attice,  Musas      ....  ix.  xcix 

Mari,  quietae  cultor  et  comes  vitae X.  xcii 

Marmora  parva  quidem,  sed  non  cessura,  viator  ....  x.  Ixiii 

Martis  alumn6  dies,  roseam  quo  lampada  primum     .      .      .  xn.  Ix 

Massyli  leo  fama  iugi  pecorisque  maritus ix.  Ixxi 

Matronae  puerique  virginesque V.  ii 

Matutine  cliens,  urbis  mihi  causa  relictae xn.  Ixviii 

Maximus  ille  tuus,  Ovidi,  Caesonius  hie  est VII.  xliv 

Medio  recumbit  imus  ille  qui  lecto vi.  Ixxiv 

Menophili  penem  tarn  grandLs  fibula  vestit vn.  Ixxxii 

Mensas,  Ole,  bonas  ponis,  sed  ponis  opertas x.  liv 

Mense  novo  Tani  veterem,  Proculeia,  maritum     ....  x.  xli 

Mentiris,  credo  :  recitas  mala  carmina,  laudo xn.  xj 

Mentiris  fictos  unguento,  Phoebe,  capillos vi.  Ivii 

Mentiris  iuvenem  tiuctis,  Laetine,  capillis ni.  xliii 

Mentitur,  qui  te  vitiosum,  Zoile,  dicit xi.  xcii 

Mentula  cum  doleat  puero,  tibi,  Naevole,  culus    ....  m.  Ixxi 

Mentula  tarn  magna  est,  quantus  tibi,  Papile,  nasus .      .  VI.  xxxvi 

Mercari  nostras  si  te  piget,  Urbice,  nugas vn.  Ii 


556 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 

Mica  vocor  :  quid  sim,  cernis,  cenatio  parva  .  n  lix 

Miles  Hyperboreos  modo,  Marcelline,  triones  ...  ix  'xlv 

Milia  misisti  mihi  sex  bis  sena  petenti       .      .      .  iv  Ixxvi 

Milia  pro  puero  centum  me  mango  poposcit    .      .      .  i   K-iii 

Milia  viginti  quondam  me  Galla  poposcit x  Ixxv 

Mille  tibi  numnios  hesterna  luce  roganti    ...  *  iv  xv 

Minxisti  currente  semel,  Pauline,  carina in  Ixxviii 

Miraris,  docto  quod  carmina  mitto  Severe      ....  xi  Ivii 

Miraris,  quare  dorniitum  non  eat  Afer  ? !  x.  'ixxxiv 

Miraris  veteres,  Vacerra,  solos vin  Lxix 

Mittebas  libram,  quadrantem,  Garrice,  mittis       ....  xi.  cv 

Moechum  Gellia  non  habet  nisi  unum vi.'  xc 

Moechus  erat :  pqteras  tamen  hoc  tu,  Paula,  negare       .      .  i.  Ixxiv 

Moechus  es  Aufldiae,  qui  vir,  Scaevine,  fuisti       ....  m  i\x 

Mollia  quod  nivei  duro  teris  ore  Galaesi xi.'xxii 

Mollis  erat  facilisque  viris  Poeantius  heros II.  Ixxxiv 

Morio  dictus  erat :  viginti  milibus  emi Till,  xiii 

Mulio  viginti  venit  modo  milibus,  Aule XI.  xxxviii 

Multis  dum  precibus  lovem  salutat xn.  Ixxvii 

Multis  iam,  Lupe,  posse  se  diebus xi.  Ixxxviii 

Munera  qui  tibi  dat  locupleti,  Gaure,  senique       ....  vui.  xxvii 

Munera  quod  senibus  viduisque  ingentia  mittis    ....  rv.  Ivi 

Muneribus  cupiat  si  quis  contendere  tecum vil.  x  lii 

Municipem  rigidi  quis  te,  Marcella,  Salonis xn.  xxi 

Municipes,  Augusta  mini  <iuos  Bilbilis  acri x.  ciii 

Musaei  pathicissimos  libellos xn.  xcv 

Mutua  quod  nobis  ter  quinquagena  dedisti III.  xl 

Mutua  te  centum  sestertia,  Phoebe,  rogavi vi.  xx 

Mutua  viginti  sestertia  forte  rogabam II.  xxx 

N 

Narnia,  sulphureo  quam  gurgite  candidus  amnis       .     .     .  vn.  xriii 

Narrat  te,  Chione,  rumor  nunquam  esse  fututam       .      .      .  HI.  Ixxxvij 

Narratur  belle  quidam  dixisse,  Marulle v.  Ixxvii 

Nascere  Dardanio  promissum  nomen  lulo vi.  iii 

Nasutus  nimium  cupis  vlderi xn.  Ixxiii 

Nasutus  sis  usque  licet,  sis  denique  nasus xiii.  ii 

Natales  mihi  Martiae  Kalendae x.  xxiv 

Natali,  Diodore,  tuo  conviva  senatus x.  xxvii 

Natali  tibi,  Quinte,  tuo  dare  parva  volebam ix.  liii 

Natorum  mihi  ins  trium  roganti II.  xcii 

Ne  gravis  hesterno  fragres,  Fescennia,  vino I.  Ixxxvii 

Ne  laudet  dignos,  laudat  Callistratus  omnes xn.  Ixxx 

Ne  legat  hunc  Chione,  mando  tibi,  Rufe,  libellum     .     .     .  ill.  xcvii 

Ne  legeres  parteni  lascivi,  casta,  libelU in.  Kxxvi 

Ne  toga  cordylis  et  paenula  desit  olivis xiii.  i 

Ne  valeam,  si  non  totis,  Deciane,  diebus n.  v 

Nee  doctum  satis  et  parum  severum x.  xix 

Nee  mullus  nee  te  delectat,  Baetice,  turdus HI.  Ixxvii 

Nee  toga  nee  focus  est  nee  tritus  cimice  lectus     ....  xi.  xxxii 

Nee  vocat  ad  cenam  Marius  nee  munera  inittit    ....  x.  xviil 

Nemo  habitat  gratis  nisi  dives  et  orbus  apud  te  .     .     .      .  xi.  Ixxxiii 

Nemo  nova  cahiit  sic  inflammatus  arnica X.  l.xxxvi 

557 


INDEX    OF    FIRST    LINES 


Nequius  a  Caro  nihil  unquam,  Maxime,  factum  est  ...  x.  Ixxvii 

Nescio  quid  de  te  non  belle,  Dento,  fateris VIIT.  xxxi 

Nescio  tarn  multis  quid  scribas,  Fauste,  puellis    ....  xi.  Ixiv 

Nescit,  crede  mihi,  quid  sint  epigrammata,  Flacce    ....  iv.  xlix 

Nescit,  cui  dederit  Tyriam  Crispinus  abollam.           .    •.  vin.  xlviii 

Nihil  Ammianq  praeter  aridam  restem iv.  Ixx 

Nihil  est  miserius  neque  gulosius  Santra VII.  xx* 

Nil  aliud  loquerLs  quam  Thesea  Pirithoumque      ....  X.  xi 

Nil  est  tritius  Hedyli  lacernis ix.  Ivii 

Nil  in  te  scripsi,  Bithynice.     Credere  non  vis       ....  xn.  Ixxviii 

Nil  intemptatum  Selius,  nil  linquit  inausum  .....  n.  xiv 

Nil  lascivius  est  Charisiano v  I.  xxiv 

Nil  mihi  das  yivus  ;  dicis  post  fata  daturum xi.  Ixvii 

Nil  miserabilius,  Matho,  paedicone  Sabello VI.  xxxiii 

Nil  non,  Lygde,  mihi  negas  roganti xii.  Ixxi 

Nil  recitas  et  vis,  Mamerce,  poeta  videri n.  Ixxxviii 

Nil  tibi  legavit  Fabius,  Bithynice,  cui  tu ix.  ix 

Nolueram,  Polytime,  tuos  violare  capillos xn.  Ixxxiv 

Nomen  Athenagorae,  quaeris,  Callistrate,  verum  ?    .      .      .  ix.  xcv  b. 

Nomen  cum  violis  rosisque  natum ( .      .      .  ix.  xi 

Nomen  habes  teneri  quod  tempora  nuncupat  anni  ' .      .      .  ix.  xiii 

Non  amo  te,  Sabidi,  nee  possum  dicere  quare       ....  I.  xxxii 

Non  cenat  sine  apro  iioster,  Tite,  Caecilianus       ....  vn.  lix 

Non  de  plebe  domus,  nee  avarae  verna  catastae  ....  vi.  xxix 

Non  de  vi  neque  caede  nee  veneno VI.  xix 

Non  dicam,  licet  usque  me  rogetis 11.  xxiii 

Non  dixi,  Coracine,  te  cinaedum rv.  xliii 

Non  donem  tibi  cur  meos  libelloa v.  Ixxiii 

Non  est  in  populo  nee  urbe  tota iv.  Ixxxiv 

Non  est  -mentitus,  qui  te  mihi  dixit  habere xi.  cii 

Non  est,  Tucca,  satis,  quod  es  gulqsus xii.  xli 

Non  facit  ad  saevos  cervix,  nisi  prima,  leones                       .  *  I.  li 

Non  horti  neque  palmitis  beati vm.  xl 

Non  mea  Massylus  servat  pomaria  serpens x.  xciv 

Non  miror,  quod  potat  aquam  tua  Bassa,  Catulle     ...  vi.  Ixix 

Non  omnis  nostri  nocturna  est  pagina  libri XI.  xvii 

Non  per  mystica  sacra  Dindymenes     • vni.  Ixxxi 

Non  plenum  modo  vicies  habebas I.  xcix 

Non  quemcunque  focum  nee  fumum  caseus  omnem  .      .      .  xxm.  xxxii 

Non  rudis  indocta  fecit  me  falce  colonus vi.  Ixxiii 

Non  silice  duro  structilive  caemento .  ix.  Ixxv 

Non  sum  de  fragili  dolatus  ulmo vi.  xlix 

Non  sum  de  primo,  fateor,  trifplina  Lyaeo Xiii.  cxiv 

Non  tot  in  Eqis  timuit  Gangeticus  arvis VIII.  xxvi 

Non  totam  mihi,  si  vacabis,  horam v.  Ixxx 

Non  vis  in  solio  prius  lavari II.  Ixx 

Non  urbana  mea  tantum  Pimpleide  gaudent XI.  iii 

Nondum  murice  cultus  asperoque vm.  Ixxii 

Norica  quam  certo  venabula  dirigit  ictu Sped,  xxiii 

Nos  bibimus  vitro,  tu  murra,  Pontice.     Quare  ?  .     .     .      .  IV.  Ixxxv 

Nosses  iocosae  dulce  cum  sacrum  Florae I.  praef.  xix  gqq. 

Nosti  mortiferum  quaestoris,  Castrice,  signum  ?  .  VII.  xxxvii 

Nosti  si  bene  Caesium,  libelle vn.  xcvii 

Nostris  versibus  esse  te  poetam I.  Ixxii 

Note,  licet  nolis,  sublimi  pectore  vates IX.  inii. 

558 


INDEX   OF   FIRST  LINES 

Novit  loturos  Dasius  numerare  :  poposcit.  n  Hi 

Nubere  Paula  cupit  nobis,  ego  ducere  Paulam     .  X  viii 

Nubere  Sila  mihi  nulla  non  lege  parata  est  xr  xxiii 

Nubere  vis  Frisco,  non  miror,  Paula  :  sapisti  'rx  v 
Nulla  est  hora  tibi  qua  non  me,  Phylli,  furentem 

Nulla  remisisti  parvo  pro  munere  dona      .     .  iv  Ixxxviii 

Nulli  munera,  Chreste,  si  remittis   ....  vir  Iv 

Nulli,  Thai,  negas,  sed  si  te  non  pudet  istud  .      .  17  'xii 

Nullos  esse  deos,  inane  caelum jv  'xxj 

Nullus  in  urbe  fuit  tota  qui  tangere  vellet      .     .     .  i.  Ixxiii 

Nummi  cum  tibi  sint  opesque  tantae   ....  xii  liii 

Nunc  hilares,  si  quando  mihi,  nunc  Indite,  Musae      .  vn  viii 

Nunquam  dicis  have,  sed  reddis,  Naevole,  semper     .      .  m.'xcv 

Nunquam  divitias  deos  rogavi iv.  ixxvii 

Nunqnam  me  revocas,  venias  cum  saepe  vocatus      .     .  III.  xxvii 

Nunquam  se  cenasse  domi  Philo  iurat,  et  hoc  est      ...  v.  xlvil 

Nuntiat  octavam  Phariae  sua  turba  iuvencae       ....  x.  xlviii 

Nuper  erat  medicus,  nunc  est  vispillo  Diaulus      ....  i.  xlvii 

Nympha.  mei  Stellae  quae  fonte  domestica  puro       ...  VI.  xlvii 

Nympha  sacri  regina  lacus,  cui  grata  Sabinus      ....  ix.  Iviii 

Nympharum  pater  amniumque,  Rhene X.  vli 

O 

O  cui  Tarpeias  licuit  contingere  quercus IF.  liv 

O  cui  virgineo  flayescere  contigit  auro IX.  xxiii 

O  felix  animo,  felix,  Nigrhia,  marito rv.  Ixxv 

O  iucunda,  covinne,  solitude XII.  xxiv 

O  luliarum  dedecus  Kalendarurn xii.  xxxii 

O  mihi  curarum  pretium  non  vile  mearum      .'....  I.  ixxvi 

O  mihi  grata  quies,  o  blanda,  Telesphore,  cura    ....  XI.  xxvi 

O  mihi  post  nullos,  lull,  memoranda  sodales I.  xv 

O  molles  tibi  quindecim,  Calene x.  xxxviii 

O  1 1  iiiim  blandus  es,  Ammiane,  matri II.  iv 

O  temperatae  dulce  Formiae  litus X.  xxx 

Obstat,'care  Pudens,  nostris  sua  turba  libellis      ....  IT.  xxix 

Occurris  quocunque  loco  mihi,  Postume,  clamas  ....  n.  Irvli 

Occtirris  quotiens,  Luperce,  nobis I.  cxvil 

Occurrit  tibi  nemo  quod  libenter III.  xliv 

Octaphoro  sanus  portatur,  Avite  Philippus vi.  Ixxxiv 

Octobres  age  sentiat  Ealendas X.  Ixxxvii 

Oculo  Philaenis  semper  altero  plorat    .......  iv.  Ixv 

Oderat  ante  ducum  famulos  turbamque  priorem       ...  IX.  Ixxix 

Odi  te,  quia  bellus  es,  Sabelle    .     .     . xn.  xxxix 

Ohe,  iam  satis  est,  ohe,  libelle iv.  Ixxxix 

Omnes  aut  vetulas  habes  arnicas viii.  Ixxix 

Omnes  eunuchos  habet  Almo  nee  arrigit  ipse       ....  X.  xcl 

Omnes  persequeris  praetprum,  Cotta,  libellos       ....  X.  Ixxxviii 

Omnes  quas  habuit,  Fabiane,  Lycoris  arnicas IT.  xxiv 

Omnes  quidem  libelli  mei,  domine Tin.  prarf. 

Omnes  Sulpiciam  legant  puellae X.  xxxv 

Omnia,  Castor,  emis  :  Pic  flet,  nt  omnia  vendas   ....  Til.  xcvlli 

Omnia  cum  retro  pueris  obsonia  tradas ill.  xxiii 

Omnia  femineis  quare  dilecta  catervis XI.  xlvll 

559 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 


Omnia  misisti  mihi  Saturnalibus,  Umber vn.  liii 

Omnia  proraittis,  cum  tota  nocte  bibisti XII.  xii 

Omnia  quod  scribis  castis  epigrammata  verbis     ....  in.  Ixix 

Omnia  vis  belle,  Matho,  dicere.     Die  aliquando  ....  x.  xlvi 

Omnis  in  hac  gracili  XENIORUM  turba  libello        ....  xin.  iii 

Orbus  es  et  locuples  et  Bruto  consule  natus xi.  xliv 

Orphea  quod  subito  tellus  emisit  hiatu Sped.  xxi.  b 

Os  et  labra  tibi  lingit,  Maneia,  catellus I.  Ixxxiii 

Os  male  causidicis  et  dicis  olere  poetis .......  xi.  xxx 

P 

Paedicat  pueros  tribas  Philaenis vn.  Ixvii 

Paedicatur  Eros,  fellat  Linus  :  Ole,  quid  ad  te     .      .     .     .  vn.  x 

Paediconibus  os  olere  diets xn.  Ixxxv 

Pallida  ne  Cilicum  timeant  pomaria  brumam       ....  VHI.  xiv 

Palma  regit  nostros,  mitissime  Caesar,  Hiberos    ....  xn.  ix 

Par  scelus  admisit  Phariis  Antonius  armis in.  Ixyi 

Parcius  utaris,  moneo,  rapiente  veredo xn.  xiv 

Pars  maxillarum  tonsa  est  tibi,  pars  tibi  rasa  est      .      .      .  vin.  xlvii 

Parthenio  die,  Musa,  tuo  nostroque  salutem xn.  xi 

Parva  rogas  magnos  ;  sed  non  dant  haec  quoque  magni      .  xi.  Ixviii 

Parva  suburban!  munuscula  mittimus  horti vn.  xlix 

Pater  ex  Marulla,  C'inna,  factus  es  septem vi.  xxxix 

Pauca  lovem  nuper  cum  milia  forte  rogarem       ....  vi.  x 

Pauper  amicitiae  .cum  sis,  Lupe,  non  es  amicae    ....  XI.  ii 

Pauper  videri  Cinna  vult ;  et  est  pauper vm.  xix 

Pauperis  extruxit  cellam,  sed  vendidit  Olus in.  xlviii 

Percidi  gaudes,  percisus,  Papile,  ploras iv.  xlviii 

Perfrixisse  tuas  questa  est  pfaefatio  fauces in.  xviii 

Periclitatur  capite  Sotades  npster vi.  xxvi 

Perpetuam  Stellae  dum  iungit  lanthida  yati vi.  xxi 

Perpetui  nunquam  moritura  volumina  Sili vn.  Ixiii 

Peryenisse  tuam  iam  te  scit  Bhenus  in  urbem      ....  vni.  xi 

Petit  Gemellus  nuptias  Maronillae  .........  I.  x 

Pexatus  pulchre  rides  mea,  Zoile,  trita n.  Iviii 

Phoebe,  veni,  sed  quantus  eras,  cum  bella  Tonanti   .      .     .  vn.  xxiii 

Phosphore,  redde  diem  :  quid  gaudia  nostra  moraris  ?   .      .  Vin.  xxi 

Picto  quod  iuga  delicata  collo    .      .      .  • I.  civ 

Pierips  vatis  Theodori  flamma  penates xi.  xciii 

Pinxisti  Venerem,  colis,  Artemidore,  Mineryam   ....  v.  xf 

Pistor  qui  fueras  diu,  Cypere vin.  xvi 

Plena  laboratis  habeas  cum  scrinia  libris  ......  iv.  xxxiii 

Plorat  Eros,  quotiens  maculosae  pocula  murrae  ....  x.  Ixxx 

Plus  credit  nemo  tota  quam  Cordus  in  urbe III.  xv 

Pompeios  iuvenes  Asia  atque  Europa,  sed  ipsum       ...  v.  Ixxiv 

Pontice,  quod  nunquam  futuis,  sed  paelice  laeva       ...  IX.  xli 

Ponuntur  semper  chrysendeta  Calpetiano vi.  xciv 

Potavi  modo  consulare  vinum vu.  Ixxix 

Poto  ego  sextantes,  tu  potas,  Cinna,  deunces       ....  xn.  xxviii 

Potor  nobilis,  Aule,  lumine  uno vi.  Ixxviii 

Praeceps  sanguinea  dum  se  rotat  ursus  harena    .     ...     .  Sped,  xi 

Praecones  duo,  quattuor  tribuni vi.  viii 

Praedla  solus  habes  et  solus,  Candide,  nummos    ....  in.  xxvi 

560 


INDEX   OF    FIRST   LINES 

Praestitit  exhibitus  tota  tibi,  Caesar,  harena  .  Sveet  ix 

Praetorem  pauper  centum  sestertia  Gaurus  .  iv  ixvii 

Pnma  Palatino  lux  est  haec  orta  Tonanti       .      .  IX  xxxix 

Prima  salutantes  atque  altera  conterit  hora    ...  '  iv  viii 

Primes  passa  toros  et  adhuc  placanda  marito      .  iv  'Xxii 

Primum  est,  ut  praestes,  si  quid  te,  China,  rogabo    .  VII '  xliii 

'  Primus  ubi  est  "  inquis  "  cum  sit  liber  iste  secundus  ?  "  .  n  xciii 

Pnncipium  des,  lane,  licet  velocibus  annis      .    •.     .     .  vni  viii 

Priscus  ab  Aetnaeis  mini,  Flacce,  Terentius  oris  .      .      .  Viii  xlv 

Privignum  non  esse  tuae  te,  Galle,  novercae  ....  iv.  xvi 

Pro  sene,  sed  clare,  votum  Maro  fecit  amico xir.  xc 

Profecit  poto  Mithridates  saepe  veneno     ....  v  Ixxvi 

Proscriptum  famulus  servavit  fronte  notata   ....  HI  xxi 

Prostratum  vasta  Nemees  in  valle  leonem       .....  Spect.  vi.  b 

Prpxima  centenis  ostenditur  ursa  columnis ni.  xix 

Psilothro  faciem  levaa  et  dropace  calvam ill.  Ixxiv 

Puella  senibus  dulcior  mini  cygnis v  xxxvii 

Pulchre  valet  Charinus,  et  tamen  pallet I.  Ixxvii 

Pyrrhae  fllia,  Nestoris  noverca x.  Ixvii 

Q 

Qua  factus  ratione  sit  requiris X.  cii 

Qua  moechum  ratione  basiaret XII.  xciii 

Qua  vicina  pluit  Vipsanis  porta  columnis IV.  xviil 

Quadrantem  Crispus  tabulis,  Faustine,  supremis       ...  v.  xxxii 

Quadringenta  tibi  non  sunt,  Chaerestrate  :  surge      ...  v.  xxv  • 

Quadringentorum  reddis  mini,  Phoebe,  tabellas  ....  ix.  cii 

Quae  legis  causa  nupsit  tibi  Laelia,  Quinte v.  Ixxv 

Quae  mala  sunt  domini,  quae  servi  commoda,  nescis      .     .  ix.  xcii 

Quae  mini  praestiteris  memini  semperque  tenebo      ...  v.  lit 

Quae  modo  litoreos  ibatis  carmina  Pyrgos xii.  ii 

Quae  nova  tam  similes  genuit  tibi,  Leda,  ministros  ?      .      .  ix.  ciii 

Quae  tam  seposita  est,  quae  gens  tam  barbara,  Caesar  .     .  Spect.  ill 

Quae  te  causa  trahit  vel  quae  flducia  Romam      ....  in.  xxxviii 

Quae  tibi  non  stabat  praecisa  est  mentula,  Glypte    ...  II.  xlv 

Quaecunque  lusi  iuvenis  et  puer  quondam i.  rxiii 

Quaedam  me  cupit,  invide  Procille.     .......  i.  «'xv 

Quaeris,  cur  nolim  te  ducere,  Galla  ?     Diserta  es      .      .     .  xi.  xix 

Quaero  diu  totam,  Safroni  Rufe,  per  urbem IV.  Ixx  i 

Qualem,  Flacce,  velim  quaeris  nolimve  puellam  ?      .      .      .  I.  Ivii 

Qualiter  Assyrios  renovant  incendia  nidos v.  vii 

Qualiter  in  Scythica  religatus  rupe  Prometheus   ....  Spect.  vli 

Quam  inihi  mittebas  Saturn!  tempore  lancem      ....  x.  xxix 

Quam  sit  lusca  Philaenis  indecenter     .     .     ^     .     .     .     .  \ii.\\n 

Quamvis  tam  longo  possis  satur  esse  libello xi.  c\  iii 

Quanta  Gigantei  memoratur  mensa  triumphi       .     .     .     .  viii.  1 

Quanta  quies  placidi,  tanta  est  facundia  Nervae       .     .     .  via.  Ixx 

Quanta  tua  est  probitas,  tanta  est  infantia  formae    .     .     .  Till,  xlvi 

Quantum  iam  superis,  Caesar,  caeloque  dedisti    ....  ix.  iii 

Quantum  sollicito  fortuna  parentis  Etrusco VI.  Ixxxlil 

Quantus,  io,  Latias  mundi  conventus  ad  aras       .     .  •  .     .  vni.  iv 

Quare  non  habeat,  Fabulle,  quaeris xii.  xx 

Quare  tam  multis  a  te,  Latine,  diebus MI.  xvii 

561 
MART.  II.  O    O 


INDEX  OF   FIRST    LINES 


Quatenus  Odrysios  iam  pax  Kornana  triones vn.  Ixxx 

Quattuor  argenti  libras  mihi  tempore  brumae      ....  vm.  Ixxi 

Quern  recitas,  meus  est,  o  Fidentine,  libellus I.  xxxviii 

Qui  Corcyraei  vidit  pomaria  regis vm.  Ixviii 

Qui  duels  vultus  et  non  legis  ista  libenter I.  xl 

Qui  gravis  es  nimium,  potes  hinc  iam,  lector,  abire  ...  xi.  xyi 

Qui  legis  Oedipoden  caligantemque  Thyesten X.  iv 

Qui  modo  per  totam  flammis  stimulatus  harenam     .      .      .  Spect.  xix 

Qui  nondum  Stygias  quaerit  descendere  ad  umbras  ...  xi.  Ixxxiv 

Qui  nunc  Caesareae  lusus  spectatur  harenae vm.  xxx 

Qui  Palatinae  caperet  convivia  mensae vm.  xxxix 

Qui  pinxit  Venerem  tuam,  Lycori I.  cii 

Qui  potuit  Bacchi  matrem  dixisse  Tonantem       ....  v.  Ixxii 

Qui  praestat  pietate  pertinaci Tin.  xxxviii 

Qui  recitat  lana  fauces  et  colla  revinctus vi.  xli 

Qui  tecum  cupis  esse  meos  ubicunque  libellos      ....  I.  ii 

Qui  tonsor  tota  fueras  notissimus  urbe vn.  Ixiv 

Quid  cum  femineo  tibi,  Baetice  Galle,  barathro  ?      .      .      .  in.  Ixxxi 

Quid  de  te,  Line,  suspicetur  uxor n.  liy 

Quid  iaciat  vult  scire  Lyris  :  quod  sobria  :  fellat      ...  II.  Ixxiii 

Quid  factum  est,  rogo,  quid  repente  factum  est  ....  V.  xliv 

Quid  me,  Thai,  senem  subinde  dicis  ? IV.  1 

Quid  mihi  reddat  ager  quaeris,  Line,  Nomentanus  ?       .  n.  xxxviii 

Quid  mihi  vobiscum  est,  o  Phoebe  novemque  sorores  ?  .     .  n.  xxii 

Quid  narrat  tua  moecha  ?    Non  puellam m.  Ixxxiv 

Quid  nobis,  inquis,  cum  epistola  ? II.  praef. 

Quid  non  cogit  amor  ?  secuit  nolente  capillos      ....  v.  xlviii 

Quid  non  saeva  fugis  placidi  lepus  ora  leonis   ?  .     .     .      .  I.  xxii 

Quid  promittebas  mihi  milia,  Gaure,  ducenta       ....  V.  Ixxxii 

Quid  recitaturus  circumdas  vellera  collo  ? IV.  xli 

"  Quid  sentis  "  inquis  "  de  nostris,  Marce,  libelUs  ?  "     .     .  v.  Ixiii 

Quid,  stulte,  nostris  versibus  tuos  misces  ? X.  c 

Quid  te,  Tucca,  iuvat  vetulo  miscere  Falerno I.  xviii 

Quid  tibi  nobiscum  est,  ludi  scelerate  magister    ....  ix.  Ixviii 

Quid  vellis  vetulum,  Jigia,  cunnum  ? x.  xc 

Quidam  me  modo,  Rufe.  diligenter       . VI.  Ixxxii 

Quidquid  agit  Rufus,  nihil  est  nisi  Naevia  Rufo  ....  I.  Ixviii 

Quidquid  in  Orpheo  Rhodope  spectasse  theatre  ....  Spect.  xxi 

Quidquid  Parrhasia  nitebat  aula ' .  xn.  xy 

Quidquid  ponitur  huic  et  hide  verris II.  xxxyii 

Quinque  satis  fuerant :  nam  sex  septemve  libelli      .     .      .  vra.  iii 

Quinte  Caledonios  Ovidi  visure  Britannos X.  xliv 

Quintillane,  vagae  moderator  summe  iuventae     ....  n.  xc 

Quintum  pro  Decimo,  pro  Crasso,  Regule,  Macrum  ...  v.  xxi 

Quintus  nostrorum  liber  est,  Auguste,  iocorum    ....  v.  xv 

Quis  labor  in  phiala  ?  docti  Myos  anne  Myronos  ?    .      .     .  vin.  li 

Quis  negat  esse  satum  materno  funere  Bacchum  ?     .  Spect.  xiii 

Quis  Palatinos  imitatur  imagine  vultus IX.  xxiv 

Quis  puer  hie  nitidis  absistit  lanthidos  undis       ....  vil.  xv 

Quis,  rogo,  tarn  durus,  quls  tarn  fuit  ille  superbus     ...  x.  Ixvi 

Quis  te  Phidiaco  formatam,  lulia,  caelo VI.  xiii 

Quis  tibi  persuasit  nares  abscidere  moecho  ? in.  Ixxxv 

Quisqujs  Flaminiam  teris,  viator xi.  xui 

Quisquis  laeta  tuis  et  sera  parentibus  optas                     ,     .  x.  Ixxi 

Quisquis  stolaeve  purpuraeve  contemptor.           ....  •  x.  v 

562 


INDEX    OF    FIRST    LINES 


Quo  possit  fieri  modq,  Severe YJI  x.\\iv 

Quo  tu,  quo,  liber  otiose,  tendis '.  xi   i 

Quo  vis  cunque  loco  potes  hunc  flnire  libelluni     .     .  xiv  11 

Quod  alpha  dixi,  Corde,  paenulatorum v.  xxvi 

Quod  Caietano  reddis,  Polycharme,  tabellas vui.  xxxvii 

Quod  clainas  semper,  quod  agentibus  obstrepis,  Aeli      .  '  I.  xcv 

Quod  conyiyaris  sine  me  tarn  saepe,  Luperce       ....  vi.  li 

Quod  cupis  in  nostris  dicique  legique  libellis iv.  xxxi 

Quod  fellas  et  aquam  potas,  nil,  Lesbia,  peccas    ....  II.'  1 

Quod  Flacco  Varioque  fuit  summoque  Maroni     ....  xn.  iv 

Quod  fronte  Selium  nubila  vides,  Rufe n!  xi 

Quod  lana  caput  alligas,  Charine xii.  Ixxxix 

Quod  magni  Thraseae  consummatique  Catonis    ....  I.  viii 

Quod  mihi  vix  unus  toto  liber  exeat  anno x.  Ixx 

Quod  nee  carmine  glorior  supino n.  Ixxxvi 

Quod  nimio  gaudes  noctera  producere  vino H.  Ixxxix 

Quod  nimium  lives  nostris  et  ubique  libellis xi.  xciv 

Quod  nimium  mortem,  Chaeremon  Stoice,  laudas      ...  xi.  Ivi 

Quod  nocturna  tibi,  Leandre,  pepercerit  unda     ....  Spect.  xxv 

Quod  non  argentum,  quod  non  tibi  mittimus  aurum       .      .  v.  lix 

Quod  non  insulse  scribis  tetrasticha  quaedam      ....  vii.  Ixxxv 

Quod  non  sit  Pylades  hoc  tempore,  non  sit  Orestes  ...  vi.  xi 

Quod  uovus  et  nuper  factus  tibi  praestat  amicus       .      .      .  in.  xxxvi 

Quod  nubis,  Proculina,  concubrro vi.  xxii 

Quod  nulli  calicem  tuum  propinas n.  xv 

Quod  nunquam  maribus  iunctam  te,  Bassa,  videbam     .      .  I.  xc 

Quod  nutantia  fronte  perticata v.  xii 

Quod  optimum  sit  disputat  convivium ix.  Ixxvii 

Quod  pectus,  quod  crura  tibi,  quod  brachia  vellis     ...  n.  Ixii 

Quod  plus  et  supplex  elephas  te,  Caesar,  adorat  ....  Spect.  xvll 

Quod  quacunque  venis  Cosmum  rcigrare  putamus    .      .      .  in.  Iv 

Quod  querulum  spirat,  quod  acerbum  Naevia  tussit       .      .  it.  xxvi 

Quod  semper  casiaque  cinnamoque vi.lv 

Quod  semper  superos  invito  fratre  rogasti IX.  li 

Quod  siccae  redolet  palus  lacunae IV.  tv 

Quod  spirat  tenera  malum  mordente  puella in.  Ixv 

Quod  tarn  grande  sophos  clamat  tibi  turba  togata    ...  vi.  xlviii 

Quod  te  diripiunt  potentiores :     .  vn.  Ixxvi 

Quod  te  mane  domi  toto  non  vidimus  anno iv.  xxvi 

Quod  te  nomine  iam  tuo  saluto n.  Ixviii 

Quod  tibi  crura  rigent  saetis  et  pectora  villis       ....  vi.  lyi 

Quod  tibi  Decembri  mense,  quo  volant  mappae  ....  v.  xviil 

Quos  cuperet  Phlegraea  suos  victoria  ludos vin.  Ixxviii 

K     * 

Raptus  abit  media  quod  ad  aethera  taurus  harena    .      .      .  Spect.  xvi 

Raros  colligis  hinc  et  bine  capillos X.  Ixxxiii 

Raucae  chortis  aves  et  ova  matrum vn.  xxxi 

Reclusis  foribus  grandes  percidis,  Amille 

Regia  pyramidum,  Caesar,  miracula  ride viii.  xxxvi 

Rem  factam  Pompullus  habet,  Faustine  :  legetur     .     .      . 

Rem  peragit  nullam  Sertorius,  inchoat  omnes      ....  in.  Ixxlx 

Rerum  certa  salus,  terrarum  gloria,  Caesar 


INDEX    OF    FIRST   LINES 


Retia  dum  cessant  latratoresque  Molossi xii.  i 

Rictibus  his  tauros  non  eripuere  magistri I.  xlviii 

Ride,  si  sapis,  o  puella,  ride II.  xii 

Rideto  inultum  qui  te,  Sextille,  cinaedum      •..     .  •    .     .      .  11.  xxviii 

Romam  petebat  esuritor  Tuccius in.  xiv 

Romam  vade,  liber  :  .si,  yeneris  unde,  requiret     ....  in.  iv 

Rufe,  vides  ilium  subsellia  prima  terentem     .     .     .    v .      .  II.  xxix 

Rumpitur  invidia  quidam,  carissime  lull -rx.  xcvii 

Ruris  bibliotheca  delicati VH.  xvii 

Rustica  mercatus  multis  sum  praedia  nummis     ....  VI.  v 

S 

Sacra  laresque  Phrygum,  quos  Troiae  maluit  heres   ...  xi.  iv 

Saecula  Carpophorum,  Caesar,  si  prisca  tulissent .      .      .      .  Sped,  xxvii 

Saecula  Nestoreae  permensa,  Philaeni,  senectae  ....  ix.  xxix 

Saepe  ego  Chrestinam  futui.    Det  quam  bene  quaeris  ? .      .  II.  xxxi 

Saepe  loquar  nimium  gentes  quod,  Avite,  remotas    ...  x.  xcvi 

Saepe  meos  laudare  soles,  Auguste,  libellos iv.  xxvii 

Saepe  mihi  dicis,  Luci  carissime  lull I.  cvii 

Saepe  mihi  queritur  non  siccis  Cestos  ocellis i.  xcii 

Saepe  rogare  soles,  qualis  sim,  Prisce,  futurus      ....  xn.  xcii 

Saepe  salutatus  nunquam  prior  ipse  salutas v.  Ixvi 

Saepius  ad  palmam  prasinus  post  fata  Neronis    ....  xi.  xxxiii 

Sancta  ducis  summi  prohibet  censura  yetatque    ....  vi.  xci 

Sancta  Snlonini  terris  requiescit  Hiberis vi.  xviii 

Sanctorum  nobis  miracula  reddis  avorum vm.  Ixxx 

Sardonica  medicata  dedit  mihi  pocula  virga '  ix.  xciy 

Sardonychas,  zmaragdos,  adamantas,  iaspidas  uno    ...  V.  xi 

Saturnalia  divitem  Sabellum      ........  ... .-  vi.  xlvi 

Saturnalicio  Macrum  fraudare  tribute        .......  x.  xvii 

Scio  me  patrocinium  debere  contumacissimae     ".      .      .      .  xii.  ftraej. 

Scis  te  captari,  scis  hunc  qui  captat  avarum vi.  Ixiii 

Scribebamus  epos  ;  coepisti  scribere  :  cessi XU.  xciv 

Scribere  me  quereris,  Velox,  epigrammata  longa       ...  I.  ex 

Scribere  te  quae  vix  intellegat  ipse  Modestus       X.  xxi 

Scribit  in  aversa  Picens  epigrammata  charta vm.  Ixii 

Scripsi,  rescripsit  nil  Naevia,  non  dabit  ergo H.  ix 

Secti  podicis  usque  ad  umbilicum vi.  xxxyii 

Securo  nihil  est  te,  Naevole,  peius  ;  eodem IV.  Ixxxiii 

Sedere  primo  solitus  in  gradu  semper v.  xiv 

Semper  agis  causas  et  res  agis,  Attale,  semper     ....  I.  Ixxix 

Semper  cum  mihi  diceretur  esse X.  xl 

Semper  mane  mihi  de  me  mala  somnia  narras      ....  vn.  liv 

Semper  pauper  eris,  si  pauper  es,  Aemiliane v.  Ixxxi 

Senos  Charinus  omnibus  digitis  gerit XI.  lix 

Septem  clepsydras  magna  tibi  voce  petenti VI.  xxxy 

Septem  post  calices  Opimiani ix.  Ixxxvii 

Septima  iam,  Phileros,  tibi  conditur  uxor  in  agro     ...  x.  xliii 

Seria  cum  possim,  quod  delectantia  malo v.  xvi 

Sescenti  cenant  a  te,  lustine,  vocati xi.  Ixy 

Setinum  dominaeque  nives  densique  trientes vi.  Ixxxvi 

Seu  tu  Paestanis  genita  es  seu  Tiburis  arvis ix.  Ix 

Sex  sestertia  si  statim  dedisses  .     .     .    • vi.  xxx 


564 


INDEX    OF    FIRST    LINES 


Sexageua  teras  cum  liinina  mane  senator xn.  xxvi 

Sexagesima,  Marciane,  messis vi'ixx 

Sextantes,  Calliste,  duos  infunde  Falerni v  Ixiv 

Sexte,  nihil  debes,  nil  debes,  Sexte,  fatemur 11.  iii 

Sexte,  Palatinae  cultor  facunde  Minervae v.  v 

Sextiliane,  bibis  quantum  subsellia  quinque I.  xxvi 

Sextus  mittitur  hie  tibi  libellus vi.  i 

Si  credis  mihi,  Quinte,  quod  mereris ix.  iii 

Si  daret  autuinnus  mihi  no  men,  Oporinos  essem  ....  IX.  xii 

Si  dederint  superi  decies  mihi  milia  centum i.  ciii 

Si  desiderium,  Caesar,  populique  patrumque  .....  vii.  v 

Si  det  iniqua  tibi  tristem  fortuna  reatum n.  xxiv 

Si  donare  vocas  promittere  nee  dare,  Gai x.  xvi 

Si  Lucane,  tibi  vel  si  tibi,  Tulle,  darentur I.  xxxvi 

Si  memini,  fuerant  tibi  quattuor,  Aelia,  dentes    .      .      .      .  i.  xix 

Si  meus  aurita  gaudet  lagalopece  Flaccus vn.  Ixxxvii 

Si  mihi  Picena  turdus  palleret  oliva ix.  liv 

Si  nimius  videor  seraque  coronide  longus x.  i 

Si  non  est  grave  nee  nimis  molestum v.  vi 

Si  non  molestum  est  teque  non  piget,  scazon       ....  I.  xcvi 

Si  prior  Euganens,  Clemens,  Helicaonls  oras x.  xciii 

Si  qua  fides  veris,  praefe_rri,  maxime  Caesar v.  xix 

Si  qua  videbuntur  chartis  tibi,  lector,  in  istis       ....  II.  viii 

Si  quando  leporem  mittis  mihi,  Gellia,  dicis  ....  v.  xxix 

Si  quid  forte  petam  timido  gracilique  libello vm.  xxiv 

Si  quid,  Fusee,  vacas  adhuc  amari I.  liv 

Si  quid  lene  mei  dicunt  et  dulce  libelli x.  xlv 

Si  quid  nostra  tuis  .-illicit  vexatio  rebus X.  Ixxxii 

Si  quid  opus  fuerit,  scis  me  non  esse  rogandum    ....  vn.  xcii 

Si  quis  ades  longis  serus  spectator  ab  oris Sped,  xxiv 

Si  quis  erit  raros  hiter  numerandus  amicos I.  xxxix 

Si  quis  forte  mihi  possit  praestare  roganti IV.  xlii 

Si  Romana  forent  haec  Socratis  ora,  fuisseut       ....  X.  xcix 

Si  sine  carne  voles  ientacula  sumere  frugi       XIII.  xxxi 

Si  te  sportula  maior  ad  beatos \  in.  xlii 

Si  tecum  mihi,  care  Martialis V.  xx 

Si  temperari  balneum  cupis  fervens      .......  ill.  xxv 

Si  tibi  liistyllos  cocus,  Aemiliane,  vocatur      .....  i.  i 

Si  tristi  domicenio  laboras v.  Ixxviii 

Si  tua,  Cerrini,  promas  epigrammata  vulgo vin.  xviii 

Si  tua  nee  Thais  nee  lusca  est,  Quinte,  puella       ....  in.  xi 

Si  vis  auribus  Atticis  probari iv.  Ixxxvi 

Sic  in  gramine  floreo  reclinis ix.  xc 

Sic  me  fronte  legat  dominus,  Faustine,  serena     ....  vn.  xii 

Sic  placidum  videas  semper,  Crispine,  Tonantem       .      .      .  vii.  xcix 

Sic  tanquam  tabulas  scyphosque,  Paule xn.  Ixix 

Sic  Tiburtinae  crescat  tibi  silva  Dianae vn.  xxviil 

Siccus,  sobrius  est  Aper  :  quid  ad  me  ? XII.  xxx 

Sidera  Jam  Tyrius  Phrixei  respicit  agni X.  II 

Sidere  percussa  est  subito  tibi,  Zoile,  lingua   ....'.  xi.  Ixxxv 

Sili,  Castalidum  decus  sororum rv.  xiv 

Silius  haec  magni  celebrat  monumenta  Maronis  .... 

Siinplicior  priscis,  Munati  Galle,  Sabmis X.  \\.\m 

Sirenas  hilarem  navigantium  poenam Hi.  Ixiv 

Sit  cisterna  mihi,  quam  vinea,  malo  Ravennae    .... 

565 


INDEX    OF   FIRST    LINES 


Sit  culus  tibi  quam  macer  requiris  ? 

Sit  Phlofjis  an  Chione  Veneri  magis  apta,  requiris  ?  . 
Sola  tibi  fuerant  sestertia,  Miliche,  centum 
Sollicitant  pavidi  dum  rhinocerota  magistri    . 
Solvere  dodrantem  nuper  tibi,  Quinte,  volebat    . 
Solvere,  Paete,  decem  tibi  me  sestertia  cogis  . 
Sordida  cum  tibi  sit,  verum  tainen,  Attale.  dixit. 
Sordidior  caeno  cum  sit  toga,  calceus  autein  . 

Sotae  filia  clinici,  Fabulla 

Spadone  cum  sis  eviratior  fluxo 

Spectabat  modo  solus  inter  omnes 

Spectas  nos,  Philomuse,  cum  lavamur       .... 
Spendophorns  Libycas  domini  petit  armiger  urbes    . 

Spero  me  secutum  in  libellis  meis 

Sportula,  Cane,  tibi  suprema  nocte  petita  fist.      .      . 
Sportula  nulla  datur  ;  gratis  conviva  recumbis    . 
Stare  iubes  nostrum  semper  tibi,  Lesbia,  penem  . 
Stare,  Luperee,  tibi  iam  pridem  mentula  desit 

Stellae  delicium  mei  columba 

Subdola  famosae  moneo  fuge  retia  moechae    . 
Sum,  fateor,  semperque  fui,  Callistrate,  pauper    . 
Summa  licet  yelox,  Agathine,  pericula  ludas  .      . 
Summa  Palatini  poteras  aequare  colossi    .... 
Summa  tuae,  Meleagre,  iuit  quae  gloria  famae     . 
Sunt  bona,  sunt  quaedam  mediocria,  sunt  mala  plura 

Sunt  chartae  mini,  quas  Catonis  uxor 

Sunt  gemini  fratres,  diversa  sed  inguina  lingunt  .     . 
Sunt  tibi,  conflteor,  diffusi  iugera  campi    .... 

Supremas  tibi  tricies  in  anno 

Sus  fera  iam  gravior  maturi  pignore  ventris  . 
Sutor  cerdo  dedit  tibi,  cnlta  Bononia,  munus . 
Synthesibus  dum  gaudet  eques  dominusque  senator 


Tarn  dubia  est  lanugo  tibi,  tarn  mollis,  ut  illam  . 
Tarn  male  Thais  olet,  quam  non  fullonis  avari 
Tarn  saepe  nostrum  decipi  Fabullinum 
Tanquam  parva  foret  sexus  iniuria  nostri 
Tanquam  simpliciter  mecum,  Callistrate,  vivas    . 
Tanta  est  quae  Titio  column  a  pendet  .... 
Tanta  tibi  est  animi  probitas  orisque,  Safroni 
Tanta  tibi  est  recti  reverentia,  Caesar,  et  aequi    . 
Tantos  et  tantas  si  dicere  Sextilianum .... 

Tantum  dat  tibi  Roma  basiorum 

Tantus  es  et  talis  nostri,  Polypheme,  Seveji   .... 
Tarpeiae  venerande  rector  aulae     ...'.... 

Tarpeias  Diodorus  ad  coronas    . 

Tempora  Pieria  solitus  redimire  corona 

Temporibus  nostris  aetas  cum  cedat  avorum  .... 
Ter  centena  quidem  poteras  epigrammata  ferre   .     .     . 

Terrarum  dea  gentiumque  Roma 

Thalda  Quintus  amat :  quam  Thaida  ?     ThaTda  luscam 
Thalda  tarn  tenuem  potuisti,  Flacce,  videre  ?      .     .     . 

566 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 


Tliafs  habet  nigros,  niveos  Laecania  dentes v.  xliii 

Theca  tectus  ahenea  lavatur xi.  ixxv 

Thelyn  viderat  in  toga  spadonem X.  lii 

Thestyle,  Victoris  tormentum  dulce  Voconi vn.  xxi.\ 

Thestylon  Aulus  amat,  sed  nee  minus  ardet  Alexin  .     .     .  vm.  Ixiii 

Tibi,  summe  Rheni  domitor  et  parens  orbis IX.  vi 

Tibur  in  Herculeum  migravit  nigra  Lycoris IV.  Ixii 

Tinctis  murice  vestibus  quod  omni IX.  Ixii 

Titulle,  moneo,  vive  :  semper  hoc  serum  est vm.  xliv 

Tolle,  puer,  calices  tepidique  toreumata  Nili xi.  xi 

Tongilianus  habet  nasuin  :  scio,  non  nego.    Sed  iam     .     .  xn.  Ixxxviii 

Tonsorem  puerum,  sed  arte  taleni vm.  lii 

Tonstrix  Suburae  faucibus  sedet  primis n.  xvii 

Totis,  Galle,  iubes  tibi  me  servire  diebus X.  Ivi 

Toto  vertice  quot  gerit  capillos XII.  vil 

Tres  habuit  dentes,  pariter  quos  expuit  omnes     ....  vm.  Ivii 

Triginta  milii  quattuorque  messes XII.  xxxiv 

Trigjnta  tibi  sunt  pueri  totidemque  puellae xn.  Ixxxvj 

Triginta  toto  mala  sunt  epigrammata  libro VII.  Ixxxi 

Triste  supercilium  durique  severa  Catonis xi.  ii 

Tristis  Athenagoras  non  misit  munera  nobis vm.  xli 

Tristis  es  et  felix  ;  sciat  hoc  Fortuna  caveto VI.  Ixxix 

Tu  qui  pene  yiros  terres  et  falce  cinaedos VI  rvi 

Tu  Setina  quidem  semper  vel  Massica  ponis IV.  Ixix 

Turba  gravis  paci  placidaeque  inimica  quieti       ....  Speet.  iv 

Tuscae  glandis  aper  populator  et  ilice  multa  .     .     .  vn.  xxvii 

U,   V 

Vade  salutatum  pro  me,  liber  :  ire  iuberis I.  Ixx 

Vapulat  adsidue  veneti  quadriga  flagello VI.  xlvi 

Vare,  Paraetonias  Latia  modo  vite  per  urbes 

Varro,  Sophocleo  non  infltiande  cothtirno v.  xxx 

Vatis  Apollinei  magno  memorabilis  ortu 

Veientana  mini  misces,  ubi  Massica  potas HI.  xlix 

Vendere,  Tucca,  potes  centenis  milibus  emptos  ? .     .     .     . 

Venderet  excultos  colles  cum  praeco  facetus 

Vendunt  carmina  Gallus  et  Lupercus 

Ventris  onus  misero,  nee  te  pudet,  excipis  auro   ....  I.  xxxvil 

Venturum  iuras  semper  mihi,  Lygde,  roganti       .... 

Verbera  securi  solitus  leo  ferre  magistri 

Vernaculorum  dicta,  sordidum  dentem 

Verona  docti  syllabas  amat  vatis 

Versiculos  in  me  narratur  scribere  Cinna 

Versus  et  breve  vividumque  carmen 

Versus  scribere  me  parum  severos 

Versus  scribere  posse  te  disertos 

Vexerat  Europen  fraterna  per  aequora  taurus     ....     &p««.  xvi.  i 

Vibi  Maxime,  si  vacas  havere 

Vicinus  meus  est  manuque  tangi 

Viderat  Ausonium  posito  modo  crlne  minlstrum  ....         nc.  xxxyi 

Vidissem  modo  forte  cum  sedentem 

Vidisti  semel,  Oppiane,  tantum 

Vimlne  clusa  levl  niveae  custodia  coctae 

567 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES 


Vincentem  roseos  facieque  comaque  ministros     ....  xii.  Ixiv 

Vindemiarum  non  ubique  proventus ix.  xcviii 

Vir  bonus  et  pauper  linguaque  et  pectore  verus  ....  IT.  v 

Vir  Celtiberis  non  tacende  gentibus i.  xlix 

Vis  commendari  sine  me  cursurus  in  urbem HI.  v 

Vis  fieri  liber  ?  mentiris,  Maxime,  non  vis II.  liii 

Vis  futui  gratis,  cum  sis  deformis  anusque      .      .      ...     .  vn.lxxv 

Vis  futui  nee  vis  mecum,  Saufeia,  lavari in.  Ixxii 

Vis  te,  Sexte,  coli :  volebam  amare ii.lv 

Vitam  quae  faciant  beatiorem x.  xlvii 

Vite  nocens  rosa  stabat  moriturus  ad  aras HI.  xxiv 

Vivida  cum  poscas  epigrammata,  mortua  ponis   ....  xi.  xlii 

Umida  qua  gelidas  submittit  Trebula  valles V.  Ixxi 

Una  est  in  nostris  tua,  Fidentine,  libellis I.  liii 

Una  nocte  quater  possum  :  sed  quattuor  annis    ....  xi.  xcvii 

Unctis  falciferi  senis  diebus  .     .      .     ."-  .  ' xi.  vi 

Uncto  Corduba  laetior  Venafro XII.  Ixiii 

Undecies  una  surrexti,  Zoile,  cena v.  Ixxix 

Undenis  pedibusque  syllabisque x.  ix 

Unguenta  et  casias  et  olentem  funera  myrrham  ....  xi.  liv 

Unguentum,  fateor,  bonum  dedisti in.  xii 

Unguentum  fuerat,  quod  onyx  modo  parva  gerebat       .      .  VII.  xciv 

Unice,  cognato  iunctum  mini  sanguine  nomen     ....  Xii.  xliy 

Unus  de  toto  peccaverat  orbe  comarum II.  Ixvi 

Unus  saepe  tibi  tota  denarius  area II.  li 

Vota  tui  breviter  si  vis  cognoscere  Marci I.  ly 

Urbanus  tibi,  Caecili,  yideris I.  xii 

Uri  Tongilius  male  dicitur  hemitritaeo II.  xl 

Ut  bene  loquatur  seiitiatque  Hamercus T.  xxviii 

Ut  faciam  breviora  mones  epigrammata,  Corde    ....  HI.  Ixxxiii 

Ut  nova  dona  tibi,  Caesar,  Nilotica  tellus       ......  vi.  Ixxx 

Ut  patiar  moechum,  rogat  uxor,  Galle,  sed  unum      .      .      .  in.  xcii 

Ut  poscas,  Clyte,  munus  exigasque viii.  Ixiy 

Ut  pueros  emeret  Labienus,  vendidlt  hortos xn.  xxxiii 

Ut  recite m  tibi  nostra  rogas  epigrammata.    Nolo     ...  I.  Ixiii 

Utere  femineis  complexibus,  utere,  Victor xi.  Ixxviii 

Utere  lactucis  et  mollibus  utere  malvis      .  • IH.  Ixxxix 

Vult,  non  vult  dare  Galla  mini,  nee  dicere  possum    .      .     .  HI.  xc 

Uxor  cum  tibi  sit  formosa,  pudica,  puella IX.  Ixvi 

Uxor  cum  tibi  sit  puella,  qualem    .     .     .     .     .     .      .      .  xn.  xcvii 

Uxor,  vade  foras,  aut  moribus  utere  nostris xi.  civ 

Uxorem  armati  futuis,  puer  Hylle,  tribuni      .....  n.  Ix 

Uxorem,  Charideme,  tuam  scis  ipse_  sinisque  .      .      ...  VI.  xxxi 

Uxorem  habendam  non  putat  Qulrinalis   ......  I.  Ixxxiv 

Uxorem  nolo  Telesinam  ducere  :  quare  ? ,  n.  xlix 

Uxorem  quare  locupletem  ducere  nolim •  VHI.  xii 

Z 

Zoile,  quid  solium  subluto  podice  perdis  ? -  n.  xlii 

Zo|le,  quid  tota  gemmam  praecingere  libra XI.  xxxvii 

Zoilus  aegrotat :  faciunt  hanc  stragula  febrem     ....  n.  xvi 


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